I Alone Level Up

by S.H.A aifu

10 years ago, after “the Gate” that connected the real world with the monster world opened, some of the ordinary, everyday people received the power to hunt monsters within the Gate. They are known as “Hunters”. However, not all Hunters are powerful. My name is Sung Jin-Woo, an E-rank Hunter. I’m someone who has to risk his life in the lowliest of dungeons, the “World’s Weakest”. H

10. 212

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"Hey, isn't that Hunter Seong Jin-Woo?"

"Where? Where??"

"Hul…. It really is Seong Jin-Woo."

It was the weekend and many people came to visit a certain theme park. They all recognised Jin-Woo's face among the visitors and stared at him with eyes filled with amazement.

"Who's the lady next to him? Is she his girlfriend?"

"Hold up…. Isn't she Hunter Cha Hae-In from the Hunters Guild??"

"Hul! This is huge!"

"What the heck? Are the two of them dating now?"

There was a woman next to Jin-Woo. She was famed for always maintaining a clean short hairstyle to ensure that nothing would hinder her movements.

She was Cha Hae-In, of course. She slightly lowered her head as if she couldn't really get used to all the attention from the people surrounding them, and whispered in a small voice.

"Do you enjoy going to places like this theme park?"

Jin-Woo replied with a grin.

"It's not that I enjoy it, but I wanted to come here at least once in my life, you see."

Cha Hae-In stared at Jin-Woo's current child-like expression with his previous ice-cold demeanour when slicing up monsters nowhere to be seen. Only then did she realise how fast her heart was racing right now.

Too bad for her, the man walking alongside her just so happened to be truly exceptional among the rank S Hunters. Cha Hae-In's cheeks flushed red by a lot after realising that he must've heard her pounding heart as well.

She tried to divert Jin-Woo's attention, even if only by a little, by changing the topic of the conversation.

"If you wanted to come here, then why me…."

"Miss Hae-In is the only friend I have."

"Pardon?"

Since when did she become friends with Hunter Seong Jin-Woo?

She racked her brain trying to recall the memory she clearly didn't possess before she unconsciously looked up. That's when her eyes locked onto Jin-Woo's rather mischievous grin.

"You know, in front of that strange stone statue…."

'Ah, that day.'

Back on that day when she and her colleagues entered the dual dungeon to rescue Jin-Woo, that angel statue asked her the question, didn't it?

– "What is your relationship with Seong Jin-Woo?"

– "….A friend."

It seemed that Jin-Woo remembered that brief exchange.

"You were listening back then?"

"Well, yeah. Somehow, I could hear you. I have better-than-average hearing, you see."

She felt a tiny bit wronged here somehow, but she knew that even back then, she ended up being saved by him rather than saving him, instead.

It was then she became conscious once more of just how many times Jin-Woo had saved her life.

"By the way…. What was the identity of that strange dungeon?"

She had been waiting to hear his explanation on this one ever since that day. Unfortunately, he figured that now wasn't the right time to tell her.

"Can I tell you later when I've managed to properly sort out my own thoughts first? Even I can't tell what's what at the moment."

Cha Hae-In nodded her head to say that she understood.

When their conversation entered a bit of a lull, Jin-Woo began taking a look around their surroundings.

"Excuse me! Please look over here!"

"I'm your biggest fan!"

Just like when a celebrity was walking on a busy street, people crowded around the two like a swarm of bees and were busily snapping away with their smartphones.

Jin-Woo's face was far more well-known to regular people than some superstars nowadays. That was because, regardless of which TV channel they tuned into, they would always play clips containing Jin-Woo's face ever since that super-massive Gate appeared in the air.

If this was any other day, he'd simply smile and let it slide. However, he didn't feel like having his day off being disrupted like this, especially when he had a company.

'Come out.'

The moment Jin-Woo issued his command, his own retinue of bodyguards willing to work their butts off for absolutely nothing revealed themselves.

They were none other than Igrit and the elite knights.

Around thirty or so knights emerged from his shadow and surrounded both him and Cha Hae-In in a protective cordon. They walked in perfect synch with their boss's pace, too.

Igrit was especially proactive as he personally went around wherever cameras flashed and wagged his finger to warn the would-be paparazzo.

Meanwhile, Cha Hae-In became even more flustered by the fact that they were now being escorted by a cordon of well-armed knights.

"Wouldn't doing this be even more eye-catching?"

"Well, as long as we aren't bothered, isn't it fine?"

His words carried this inexplicable persuasive power and Cha Hae-In found her head nodding all by itself. Truth be told, she really did feel somewhat better now that all those gazes pouring down on her had disappeared.

When she thought about it, she couldn't remember the last time she went out for fun with a relaxed mindset.

It had already been almost two years since she became a Hunter. During this period, not even once did she take a day off to relax.

She always remained tense and wasted each hour feeling nervous – on days she wasn't participating in raids, she'd be worried about her colleagues, and when she was in the raid, then she'd be worried about making mistakes.

But for today….

'….It's a different story when I'm with him.'

A man she can depend on.

When she was with Jin-Woo, it felt as if she no longer had to meet the expectations of her comrades that depended on her and could go back to being just a regular woman living her life.

She took one step closer. Her cheeks blushed a little more as her body grew closer to Jin-Woo even before she had noticed it.

'His scent…. I can smell it.'

Jin-Woo watched her complexion get so much brighter and belatedly reflected on his shortcomings.

'I should've done this earlier.'

He scanned the theme park's various rides, before pointing at the roller coaster falling at a scary speed from a dizzying height and asked her.

"Should we get on that one?"

"Okay."

Since she answered too easily, Jin-Woo felt unconvinced and pointed at another ride.

"How about that one?"

"It's okay, too."

"In that case, how about the one next to it?"

"That's also okay."

"Everything's okay??"

"Yes. They are all okay."

Jin-Woo stared at the excited face she made during her answers and simply chuckled to himself.

'What the heck. I guess I wasn't the only one who wanted to come here.'

Since she didn't seem to hate this place, Jin-Woo's mind could relax even further now. He lightly grasped her wrist and led her to the nearest ride.

"Well, then. Why don't we ride all of them?"

Unfortunately….

It wasn't as fun as he imagined.

"Kyaaahk! Kyahk!"

"Whoa-!!"

As luck would have it, Jin-Woo got to sit on the very front of the roller coaster. While the people behind were screaming their heads off, he spectated on the passing scenery without feeling much of an excitement.

'Huh? That kid's gonna drop his ice cream pretty soon. Oopsie, I knew it. Hold on, the food court was over that side? But, it's still too early to buy dinner, so….'

Hmm….

Even though the roller coaster was rushing forward at full tilt, everything seemed to have come to a crawl, like extreme slow motion, to Jin-Woo and he was feeling really bored right now.

If he was allowed to, then he thought that he could stand up straight until the ride was over and he'd be unaffected in the slightest.

He did his very best to suppress a yawn trying to break out and sneaked a glance behind him. Beyond Igrit and a couple of knights sitting immediately behind him – they wanted to ride on the roller coaster for some reason – he could see the regular people screaming and enjoying themselves.

From every single muscle on their faces, he could feel the sensation of thrill and joy they were experiencing right now. He also heard their racing hearts, pounding away hard enough to seemingly explode at any second.

On the other hand…

Jin-Woo placed his hand on the chest to feel his heart beating as normal and broke into a slight grin.

Honestly, it was a lot more exciting to jump up high in the sky with everything he had so he could punch that titanic god statue in the face.

'What about back then when I was being chased around by those centipedes in the penalty zone?'

It was hundreds, no, ten thousand times scarier than right now.

'Oops.'

Jin-Woo quickly shook his head in order to get rid of the useless thoughts.

'I came here to relax, yet here I am, thinking about monsters.'

He began wondering if this was an illness or something. Around at the same time, he discovered his companion with a similar sort of expression on her face sitting next to him.

Smirk.

He couldn't help but chuckle here. Jin-Woo asked Cha Hae-In as she continued to swim in her dazed thoughts.

"Is it not fun playing around here?"

"Ah…. No, it's fun."

Since her conversation partner possessed sharp hearing, she found it convenient that she didn't have to shout at him.

"Then, why haven't you screamed at least once so far?"

They had already ridden on five different attractions so far. All of them could be described as top thrill rides to normal people, but she hadn't even muttered out the common "Ah!" once yet.

She too was a rank S Hunter. Maybe not as extreme as Jin-Woo, but she had also surpassed the realms of normal people by a wide margin as well. Suddenly, he felt rather relieved by the fact that he wasn't the only one so far removed from the other people here.

It was then.

He was tempted to show her the world that he saw.

Beru sensed Jin-Woo's desire and hurriedly began dissuading him.

[Oh, my king… It might be too dangerous for this woman.]

'It'll be fine. Besides, I'll put you in charge of catching her if she falls off. If you fail to do so…. You know already, right?'

[….Your wish is my command, my liege.]

Now that the voice of dissent had been suppressed, Jin-Woo spoke to Cha Hae-In next.

"Instead of this, do you want to ride on something really exciting?"

"Something…. really exciting?"

After the roller coaster came to an end, Jin-Woo led the still-puzzled Cha Hae-In out to a large plaza.

Whoa-!!

The theme park goers saw the cordon of black knights guarding the two of them and gasped out in sheer amazement. But then, their gasps soon turned into shocked screams.

"Heok!!"

"What is that thing?!"

The crowd was pushed back by the Shadow Soldiers. And on the now-created open space, a large, black monster suddenly rose up from the ground. It flapped its massive wings and screeched loudly towards the sky.

Kiiiaaaahhkk-!

It was also Cha Hae-In's first time seeing the Sky Dragon up close, so her response wasn't all that much different from the regular spectators.

"O-oh my god…."

Jin-Woo gestured towards Cha Hae-In, her eyes still resembling round dots from sheer amazement.

"Hurry, come on up."

She realised that Jin-Woo had already climbed up on the back of the Sky Dragon and became utterly flabbergasted.

"You… you want me to ride that creature??"

"I told you, didn't I?"

Unable to watch on any longer, Jin-Woo activated the skill 'Ruler's Authority' to pull her in.

"Ah?!"

She gasped out in shock again as this unseen force dragged her in. However, that reaction wasn't what Jin-Woo was hoping to see from her. Indeed, this was merely the beginning.

Even though her lips hadn't closed from the shock yet, he made her settle down right behind him and issued a command to Kaisel.

"Go up."

Kiiaahk-!

As if it was waiting for that, the Sky Dragon flapped its huge wings and began rising up in the air.

Cha Hae-In looked down as the crowd below gradually grew distant and swallowed her saliva. For sure, the sense of tension she felt right now was on another dimension when compared to being on those theme park rides.

Almost instinctively, her arms went around Jin-Woo's waist. Once they got high enough that the spectators below couldn't be seen anymore, her voice grew louder as well.

"E-excuse me?"

"Yes?"

"Why is that ant following us?"

Jin-Woo craned his neck to the side and looked down to spot Beru rising up just below Kaisel's belly. Seeing how determined the former ant king's expression was right now, he couldn't help but break out in a soft chuckle.

"He's the lifeguard!"

"Eh??"

"Hold on to me tight. We're going to fly now."

"Ehhhh??"

Was there a reason for more explanation now? Because he definitely could feel an incredible amount of pressure being exerted by Cha Hae-In's arms wrapped around his waist.

'What the heck. A regular guy would've been folded in half!'

But, this showed how scared she must've been feeling right now. Jin-Woo had half succeeded in his mission and spoke loudly with an excited voice.

"Kaisel, go faster! Faster!"

Kiiahk!

As Kaisel began flying at its fastest speed, Cha Hae-In's screams, heard for the very first time today, resounded out right behind him.

A smaller-scale Dragon was splitting the air as it speedily flew forward.

Swish-!

Riding on top of Kaisel, Jin-Woo and Cha Hae-In were able to fly into places where one wouldn't normally survive unless one was a rank S Hunter.

They entered the storm clouds where rain and wind wildly lashed out; they flew so close to a mountain range that they could almost touch it; they even flew past the seemingly-endless field of snow.

But the most beautiful sight still had to be watching the setting sun on top of the ocean.

Kaisel gradually slowed down.

Accompanied by the chilly wind brushing past their cheeks, the two of them watched the sun slowly disappear below the distant horizon, the skies being dyed in the amber-orange hue.

Just like the coloured sky, Cha Hae-In's eyes as she took in the spectacular sight also gently glowed in that orange hue. Abruptly, she felt curious and just had to ask him.

"Mister Jin-Woo."

"Yes?"

"Even though you can experience stuff like this, why did we go to that theme park first?"

"That theme park, well…."

Jin-Woo fell into reminiscence and slowly told her the reason.

"That's where the Gate my dad went missing opened up."

"Oh…"

If his father failed and the dungeon break really happened back then, the theme park would have ceased to exist. Yet, it was full of people today.

At first, he resented his old man for leaving behind his family in that manner, but now, he felt as if something warm had filled up the void in his heart after he witnessed all those smiling families having a fun day out in the theme park.

That was enough for him.

"That's why I always wanted to go there at least once."

Jin-Woo's voice sounded lonely for some reason and Cha Hae-In wordlessly hugged him from behind. Her warmth was transmitted through his back.

She spoke to him again.

"Thank you."

Her sudden thanks prompted him to look behind him, but since she was pressing up close to his back, there was no way he could see the expression on her face.

"Pardon me?"

"I wanted to…. say thank you for everything. You've been helping me out all this time, so…."

Through their bodies pressing against each other, through her warm breaths tickling his neck, and from her powerfully beating heart, he sensed from her what she wanted to say.

Indeed.

This was enough for him.

Jin-Woo smiled softly and commanded Kaisel to head in the opposite direction.

"Where are we going now?"

Cha Hae-In sounded somewhat rueful as she asked him. Jin-Woo replied with a smile.

"There's something I want to show you."

The destination they got to after a lengthy flight wasn't Korea, but Japan.

More specifically, an area designated as a restricted zone. Which meant that there was not one soul to be found here. Even the wild animals were driven away by the horrible auras oozing off from the monsters and thus no one lived in this area.

In this expansive forest where not even the breathing of a small animal could be heard, Kaisel slowly made its descent.

Kiiahk-!

The Sky Dragon lay flat on the ground and Jin-Woo climbed off first. He turned around to assist Cha Hae-In next.

"Be careful…."

Even before he could reach out, though, she jumped lightly and easily landed on the ground, before shrugging her shoulders. Jin-Woo had momentarily forgotten what her job was and could only chuckle again.

"Where are we….?"

She had been experiencing some extraordinary sights for almost the whole day today, and so, she expectantly began scanning her new surroundings with curious eyes.

However, besides the near-endless sea of trees, she couldn't see anything particularly interesting out here.

Jin-Woo sneakily bought a blanket from the System's Store and laid it down on the ground before opening his mouth.

"There's no fun if I let you in on the secret already, so why don't we lie down first?"

"Ehh?"

Did she hear him wrong??

Unfortunately, there was no way that a rank S Hunter's hearing would hear such a clear enunciation of words incorrectly. Besides, Jin-Woo was already getting ready to lay down on the blanket, anyway.

"Please, hurry."

Seeing how nonchalant he was in his invitation, Cha Hae-In's heart began pounding as if it was about to explode.

"Are, are you…. being serious?"

She simply had to confirm his intentions one more time.

Too bad for her, perhaps, he didn't show not one bit of hesitation as he nodded his head in a determined way.

It was her turn to hesitate, but in the end, she approached the blanket. Jin-Woo confirmed this and slowly laid down first. Soon, she too lied down next to him, and as if she had made a big decision about something, she straightened her legs.

"I'm… ready."

Jin-Woo looked at Cha Hae-In murmuring with tightly closed eyes and replied to her.

"In that case, please open your eyes."

When her eyes creaked open just a bit, he wordlessly pointed at the night sky above.

….Towards the cascading light of the stars.

"Ah….."

Cha Hae-In gasped out inadvertently after looking at the stunning parade of the starlight filling up the heavens.

Beautiful.

Could she be able to describe this spectacle with any other words besides 'beautiful'?

Jin-Woo was pleased by her response and smiled in satisfaction.

"I arrived here to deal with a dungeon break and ended up looking at the night sky."

Back then, he felt just too fatigued and wanted to lay his weary body down and close his eyes to rest. But, because the surroundings were so bright, he couldn't go to sleep.

He got irritated and opened his eyes and that's when he got to see this brilliant echo of stars enveloping the sky.

Just seeing them made his heart melt down that night.

"I thought that it'd be wonderful to share this night sky with someone else, you see."

The only thing filling up this still forest with nary a squeak of sound was the endless river of starlight.

Jin-Woo wanted to share this feeling, this moment, with someone else.

Fortunately, the result of his desire was this strong sense of relief. He felt relieved by the fact that there was someone close by who could also feel what he had felt then.

And his heart, once hardened and lumpy, seemed to soften and become untangled now.

But then, this happened.

'Uh….?'

He felt the warmth of Cha Hae-In's hand climbing up on top of his own.

"Can I… hold your hand?"

But, she was already holding it, though?

Jin-Woo smiled before shifting his hand to interlock his fingers with hers. The cold yet smooth hand of a woman filled his palm up.

So still, so quiet….

Countless starlight sparkled and rained down, as the heads of two young people slowly became one.

Chapter 212 Fin.

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Chapter 213

Next day.

The news of various Hunters had taken over the sports newspapers from the likes of actual athletes or celebrities a long time ago. And on this particular day, a rather sensational headline found itself on one such publication's front page.

[Seong Jin-Woo and Cha Hae-In go to a theme park; birth of the strongest couple?]

The articles contained many large photos of the two people in question visiting a theme park, taken by various smartphones. The last image was of them riding on a large monster to fly off to elsewhere.

The personal affairs of these two Hunters were supposed to be protected and couldn't be reported to the public, but the boss of this particular newspaper went mad from this massive breaking news and, even under the threat of sanctions, decided to release the article nonetheless.

Of course, the response had been tremendous.

The 'scandal' concerning two rank S Hunters whose names everyone could recognise brought about renewed vitality to the psyches of everyone who was fatigued by the constant stream of articles related to the super-massive Gate in the sky.

The world's greatest Hunter and Korea's best female Hunter were dating. Obviously, people would display an incredible amount of interest in this matter.

Especially online, where the story of the two Hunters was spreading out with an even more rabid intensity.

– Hang on, if Seong Jin-Woo and Cha Hae-In marry and have a kid together, wouldn't Seong Jin-Woo Junior go around killing every single monster in the entire world?

Seong Jin-Woo Junior LOL

It's not official that they are dating, yet look at all these idiots jumping to conclusions. Tsk, tsk.

Going by that example, you think we got Seong Jin-Woo because his parents were both super duper top Hunters? You sound like a little kid who don't know how Hunters awaken their powers.

Even then, doesn't those two dating make you feel excited?

I wish it was true. Them having a marriage argument will be an epic encounter that flattens their surroundings. LOL

– I live in the outskirts of Seoul, and when I saw that Gate floating in the sky while travelling near Gangnam, I thought the world was coming to an end. But now that I see the Hunters going on a date like this and enjoying their lives, I feel like there's hope left for us still and I'm relieved by that.

This. ㅇㅈ

I hope TV stations will stop playing special reports on the Gate now.

Seong Jin-Woo Hunter-nim, Cha Hae-In Hunter-nim, whether it's a super-massive Gate or a super-duper-massive Gate, please stop it for us!

"Tsk, tsk."

The Chairman of the White Tiger Guild, Baek Yun-Ho, clicked his tongue and folded close the newspaper in his hand.

He wondered why Hunter Cha Hae-In's eyes were gleaming suspiciously whenever she looked at Hunter Seong Jin-Woo, and so, this here was the reason.

However, he wasn't clicking his tongue because the two of them were going on a date.

"Look at this headline. It's complete rubbish. What do they even mean, strongest couple?"

Section Chief Ahn Sahng-Min, sitting near his boss and his rather displeased expression, asked him while sounding puzzled.

"What's the matter, sir? The way I see it, Hunters Seong Jin-Woo and Cha Hae-In would definitely be worthy of the title of 'strongest couple'."

"Doesn't matter who Hunter Seong Jin-Woo dates, we'll still get the 'birth of the strongest couple' anyways, so what's the point of attaching this sort of a headline?"

'Eh?'

Now that it was said out loud, that certainly sounded logical.

Ahn Sahng-Min began placing all the female Hunters he knew next to Jin-Woo in his mind, and began nodding his head at Baek Yun-Ho's opinion.

Even if Hunter Seong was dating that high school girl Hunter, he just couldn't think of anyone capable of winning against them. None at all.

The female high school Hunter might be not much to write home about, but well, her partner would be too much of a cheat, after all.

"You're completely correct, Chairman."

"Yes, I'm telling you."

Ahn Sahng-Min nodded his head again and began sipping the coffee he bought from the vending machine not too long ago. He slowly shifted his gaze outside the window.

"By the way, this issue with fine dust is really getting serious, sir. I'm actually scared of opening the windows nowadays."

Ahn Sahng-Min frowned and got up to close the half-open window. However, Baek Yun-Ho stopped him from doing so.

"Hang on."

"Sir?"

Baek Yun-Ho stood up from his seat and walked over to Ahn Sahng-Min, before opening the window wide to reach outside.

"This…. This isn't fine dust at all."

The feeling he got at the tips of his fingers was icy cold.

This was actually a fog. Not only that, a fog that carried this extreme coldness, bitter enough to make one's bones shiver.

"This is weird."

It was only around the middle of Autumn, but to think, there would be a wintery fog enveloping the entirety of Seoul. At that moment, he felt this creepy chilling sensation brushing past the back of his neck.

Baek Yun-Ho's eyes changed to that of the 'Eyes of the Beast' and he glared outside the window. He muttered to himself, his expression hardening gradually.

"Something… something feels really off."

Jin-Woo was the first one to open his eyes.

Hae-In must've been exhausted from yesterday as she hadn't woken up from her sweet slumber yet.

Just how long had it been since he greeted the morning together with someone else?

Jin-Woo cautiously got up to make sure not to rouse Hae-In and walked over to the nearby forest.

'It was definitely around here….'

He found the stream he used the last time he was here and washed up. After he was done, he walked back to where Hae-In was still asleep but then….

He discovered something strange and his steps came to an abrupt halt.

'What is this….?'

There was this small tree with new buds sprouting up. One might be tempted to say that it was a plant commonly seen anywhere, but the thing was, its leaves were gently shimmering in a silvery colour.

It was a tree never before seen on Earth, in other words.

And sure enough, this strange tree was emitting a very faint amount of magical energy, something only Jin-Woo's level of sensory perception could have picked up on.

'It's not from our world.'

The plant's magical energy emission was different from that of a monster's, so it clearly wasn't one. Jin-Woo observed the tree for a little while longer, before raising his head to discover more of the same silvery leaves here and there.

It was such a contrast to the sight of regular surrounding trees all drying up gradually.

'Even the ground… is changing.'

Was this also the part of the Rulers' plan? Or, was it more like the after-effects of monsters pillaging the land?

Jin-Woo scooped a little bit of soil and smelt it, before rubbing his hands together to scatter it away little by little. Even the falling soil contained a minute trace, a scent, of magic energy.

Maybe it was only the humans that hadn't noticed the truth yet. It might be that this world had become deeply mired in the magical energy already.

It was at this moment, he sensed Cha Hae-In's movement from afar as she slowly woke up from her slumber. Jin-Woo dusted his hands and stood back up.

It was indeed important to worry about the consequences of the transforming world, but there was something even more important than that right now.

And that would be to calm Hae-In down, when she'd no doubt start panicking after realising that he wasn't there. Jin-Woo deliberately made some noises as he approached her. She quickly discovered him and let out a soft sigh of relief.

He smiled and greeted her.

"Good morning. Did you rest well?"

Her complexion reddened for some reason. She replied while averting her gaze away from him.

"…..Yes."

Jin-Woo sent her a puzzled look, prompting her to sneakily raise her head.

"Where were you coming from?"

Hae-In's question sounded cautious. He used the towel around his neck to rub his still-moist hair and replied.

"I was washing myself, actually."

Now that he thought about it, she must've wanted to clean herself just as badly, too. Especially with all that ocean breeze – even a little bit of exposure would leave behind plenty of salt on one's skin.

'Still, I can't let a young lady wash herself in a place like this….'

Jin-Woo pondered his options for a bit, before a smile floated up on his lips. Going to 'that place' would solve the issues of both taking a bath and breakfast in one go.

"I know a hotel with a killer breakfast nearby, so how about going there for our meal?"

Although she didn't verbalise her answer, Hae-In must've felt really hungry, because she immediately nodded her head, her lips firmly closed shut.

Jin-Woo reached out to her and helped her to stand back up, before summoning Kaisel out again.

Kiiiaaahk!

Hae-In tilted her head while looking at the Sky Dragon unfurl its wings.

"But, didn't you say it was nearby?"

"Well, it's about a five-minute distance if I run with everything I have, so…. Would you like to run alongside me, then?"

Five minutes at Jin-Woo's top speed; Hae-In quickly calculated just how far that would be in her head, and without saying anything, she climbed on the back of Kaisel.

'Yup, it's great that she understands me so quickly.'

Jin-Woo grinned and took his place in front of her. Kaisel flapped its wings and flew up.

The Koreans had seen Kaisel fairly often on TV so their reactions were not as severe, but he wondered how the Japanese staff of the hotel would react after seeing his ride.

He prayed that the chef working this morning wouldn't be too frightened. Meanwhile, Kaisel slowly began heading in the direction of the hotel.

'It' suddenly appeared out of nowhere.

The first person to discover 'it' was a middle-aged man who got evaluated as a rank B Awakened in the Hunter's Association only a few moments ago.

Thud.

The man ended up bumping shoulders with 'it' appearing suddenly before him in the middle of the busy street and stopped walking right then.

"What the….?"

The man raised his head while chasing after the silhouette of the shadow. There was a big, hulking man of over two metres tall standing right before him.

This dangerous sense of wild beast oozed out from the man wearing some sort of leather clothing. No, rather than just some 'sense', this man was a wild beast personified.

Since the man's huge physique was so eye-catching, the gazes of the passersby quickly focused on this person, and the middle-aged man that had run into him.

"What's this? Are they going to fight?"

"Wow! Look at that man's size. He's no joke. Even Mah Dong-Wook would take a bow, man."

"By the way, that uncle must've lost his mind. He might end up in the hospital at this rate."

Even though the street was filled with people, there was this heavy silence descending on it. That's what the middle-aged man thought after becoming the centre of attention of the passersby.

Now normally, he'd have apologised and stepped aside, but he was a different person compared to the past.

He'd no longer suffer the ignominy of kowtowing before his superior or be ignored by his junior workers.

'I'm a rank B Awakened now.'

Not only that, among the upper tier of the rank B, too. There was no need to act subservient towards a 'regular' person like this who only relied on his massive frame.

The middle-aged man carefully put down the bag of documents on the ground and roared out at the top of his lungs.

"Oii! You're supposed to apologise when running into someone!"

Once his agitated heart began racing away, he felt his magical energy moving vigorously from within every inch of his body.

Cells in his flesh were telling him.

That he was alive.

That he was ready to start a new life as a Hunter.

Perhaps suppressed by his spirit, the beast-like man didn't say anything while standing rooted in the same spot. The middle-aged man saw this reaction and became even more excited.

"You think everything will be over just because you're standing still looking at me like that? If you made a mistake, you're supposed to admit to it and start begging for forgiveness to the person you've wronged…. Ah?! Ah, aaah!!"

When the huge man grabbed the middle-aged man by his head and lifted the poor man up, the passersby watching began screaming at the top of their lungs.

"Ah!! Ah, aaaaah!!"

Thick, reddish veins bulged on the head of the middle-aged man as he was being squeezed.

A bear. No, a tiger; a lion, a shark, a crocodile, a poisonous snake – which predator existing on this world was capable of frightening a human being to this degree?

The fear of the predator ingrained into humanity's DNA caused the middle-aged man to wet his pants.

"Ah….. Ah….."

And eventually…

CRACK!

Accompanied by the sounds of something shattering, blood and brain mass splattered to everywhere.

"Kyyyaaaaahhk!!"

The huge man didn't stop there; he began to voraciously devour the sagging, lifeless body of the middle-aged man on the ground.

"He, he's eating that man!"

"U-uwaaaah?!"

"Wha-what the hell is this?! What's going on?!"

The noisy meal time came to an end in an instant. The huge 'man' wiped the corners of his mouth, still dirty with bits of flesh, with his hand while slowly standing back up.

A wild beast.

Not even a hint of intelligence could be seen behind the eyes of the huge man. They definitely resembled a wild beast's eyes now.

While many people screamed and ran away, there were just as many who had failed to recognise the severity of the situation and continued to spectate on the next actions of this huge man.

This 'wild beast' roared out towards the humans around it.

[Listen well, you lowly humans! Starting from now, I will hunt all of you down!!]

The thunderclap-like roar paralysed all who listened. They stood there on the spot shivering, tears rolling down their cheeks.

Before anyone had noticed it, sharp fangs were jutting out gloriously from the huge man's mouth.

[My fangs and claws will mercilessly rip apart the flesh and skin of you weaklings!]

It was the King of Beasts. The roar from the Sovereign of Beastly Fangs baring its sharp canines reverberated loudly against the entirety of the streets.

[I dare you to come and stop me!]

The Association President Woo Jin-Cheol finally received the report on the 'horrifying being' that appeared in the middle of the city without any prior warning.

"How many victims so far?"

"At the moment, it's impossible to tally the number of the dead, sir."

The 'thing' was first spotted in the district of Myeong-dong and while moving in a straight line, the creature proceeded to kill every human it laid its eyes on.

"When taken into account the direction this creature has taken, its destination could be…"

"…..It's the Hunter's Association, isn't it?"

Woo Jin-Cheol bit his lower lip and clenched his fists.

"We've got our hands full worrying about the d*mn Gate right now, but just where did such a monster even….."

Unfortunately, there was no time to stew in his anger right now. No, he had to come up with a solution to stop that thing somehow.

"What about Seong Jin-Woo Hunter-nim?"

"We still can't contact him."

"God d*mn it…"

He cursed out involuntarily.

Only a few minutes ago, he heard the news that a Guild stepped forward to stop this monster only to be annihilated without being able to do anything.

The only consolation right now was that the creature moved at a slow pace as if it was waiting for someone to show up. But still, it didn't take a genius to figure out that, as long as it was not stopped soon, the total number of victims would end up being astronomical.

In such a situation, the fact that the country's most powerful combat force couldn't be reached was probably the worst news imaginable.

'If things go wrong, even the country can….'

Woo Jin-Cheol gritted his teeth as he kept his mouth shut, his determination firming up. It was then, a welcome piece of news came at his way.

"Association President!"

Woo Jin-Cheol shot up from his seat as an Association employee burst into his office without permission.

"Did you get in touch with Seong Jin-Woo Hunter-nim??"

"No, sir. That's not it. However, I just learned that a world-class Hunter staying nearby is getting ready to stop the monster!"

"What? Really? Who is it?"

"That is…."

Ranked as the number one in the German Hunter community, Lennart Niermann, could sense the aura of the monster approaching closer as it dyed the streets red with blood.

'Will I… be able to win?'

Even though he was doubtful, as a Hunter, there was no way he'd ignore the screams of terror coming from the innocent citizens.

And when he took a look at the brightening expressions of the escaping citizens as they recognised him, the Hunter ranked twelfth in the American Hunter Bureau's 'Hunter Point' list, Lennart Niermann was overcome with this great weight of responsibility bearing down on his shoulders.

Yes, it was not a matter of whether he could do it or not. No, he simply had to do it. That was the purpose, the duty, of a Hunter.

'Maybe….'

The reason why he ended up staying in Seoul was probably the trickery of fate so that he could stop that monstrosity with his own two hands.

Lennart Niermann formed a grave but determined expression and undid a couple of buttons on his shirt. Just as he was about to take his step towards the monster that finally revealed itself at the far end of the street….

A heavy voice came from behind him.

"Get out of the way."

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Jin-Woo's smartphone began ringing off the hook as soon as he entered the reception range.

'From the Hunter's Association?'

His expression hardened when he confirmed who the caller was. Could something bad have happened while he was away for a bit?

He quickly answered the call.

– "H-Hunter-nim?!"

"Yes, it's me, Seong Jin-Woo."

He sensed that something was definitely wrong after hearing the urgency in the Association employee's voice. Feeling suspicious, he quickly asked.

"What happened?"

– "That, that, the thing is, no, hang on, the Association President will explain it to you. Let me patch you through to him right away."

A problem serious enough to make the leader of the Association personally step up?

Jin-Woo realised that the matter at hand couldn't be a simple one and wordlessly waited for the reply. The distinct connecting signal tone soon ended, and as if he had been desperately waiting for the call, Woo Jin-Cheol hurriedly answered the phone, his anxious voice leaking out from the speaker.

– "Seong Hunter-nim!! Why couldn't we get a hold of you?"

"I was outside the reception range until a moment ago."

Perhaps because of being contaminated by the frequent dungeon breaks, it was almost impossible to contact outside when within that vast ocean of trees.

However, he thought it was more than sufficient enough to leave behind his Shadow Soldiers with those whom he wanted to protect. That's what he believed.

'Could the super-massive Gate have opened up while I was in the forest?'

But, there should have been at least two more days left still?

All manners of hypotheses bubbled up in Jin-Woo's mind and just before he could urge Woo Jin-Cheol to spit out the truth, the latter told him the greatly simplified version of the current crisis.

– "A monster has appeared in the middle of Seoul and is going on a rampage!"

Tumble.

Jin-Woo had been feeling energised after enjoying a rare break from the action. But now, he felt as if his heart had fallen to the pit of his stomach.

"How big is the size of the monster horde??"

– "No, there's no horde. It's just one creature."

'Just one?'

Currently, all Korean Hunters had gathered in Seoul.

They were summoned to the city in order to fight against the potential dungeon break from the super-massive Gate, so they should be on their toes, getting ready to move at a moment's notice.

On top of that, the Association was even supplying weapons to those Hunters lacking in proper equipment, too.

'But then, they are getting destroyed by a monster that suddenly appeared out of nowhere?'

As Jin-Woo fell ever deeper into confusion, Woo Jin-Cheol hurriedly continued on with his explanation.

– "A Guild that tried to fight the creature was annihilated in an instant. It looks like the monster is no ordinary creature at all."

"What about its current location?"

– "We believe it's currently near Seoul Grand Hotel."

Could this be chalked up to being mere coincidence?

The moment Woo Jin-Cheol mentioned the name of the ultra-luxurious hotel where Thomas Andre was staying, Jin-Woo felt this sense of creeping unease tickle him in his throat.

Sure enough….

The Association President's voice speaking the American's name was filled to the brim with anxiety.

– "I received a call not too long ago that Thomas Andre Hunter-nim was getting ready to fight the monster."

But, that couldn't be.

Just in case, Jin-Woo had left a Shadow Soldier behind with Thomas Andre. The order issued to the soldier was to 'send a signal right away if something strange is sensed in the immediate vicinity'.

But then, the target for protection started fighting alone against a monster capable of wiping out a Guild and yet, there was no signal?

'….Hang on.'

Only now did Jin-Woo realise something was off.

The signals coming from the Shadow Soldiers spread throughout Seoul were extremely weak. As if something was interfering with the transmission.

'What is going on?'

An enemy possessing incredible power, a Special Authority-rank Hunter fighting it, and finally, signals being blocked off.

Could it be?

One distinct possibility popped up in Jin-Woo's head. He asked in a hurry to confirm.

"Association President! Did that monster possess a shadow?"

– "Excuse me?"

"Please, confirm if that monster has a shadow!"

Woo Jin-Cheol's voice seemingly got cut out for a moment, then – before continuing on with greater urgency.

– "How can this be…. You're right, Seong Hunter-nim! I just confirmed with the photos, and the monster does not have a shadow!"

'Oh, my god.'

Jin-Woo recalled that the Ice Elf attacking Goh Gun-Hui also didn't possess a shadow and loudly cried out.

"You must never let Thomas Andre fight that monster!"

There was a good chance that the monster had been aiming for Thomas Andre all along.

– "Excuse me? But, they have already…."

Time was of the essence right now.

Jin-Woo realised that he had no need to listen to any further explanation and tried to activate 'Shadow Exchange' with the Shadow Soldier attached to Thomas Andre.

Tti-ring.

Accompanied by a rather ominous-sounding alert noise, a clear holographic message suddenly popped up in his view.

[The designated Shadow Soldier cannot be located.]

Jin-Woo tried several times more, but it was the same story.

Tti-ring, tti-ring….

[The designated Shadow Soldier cannot be located.]

[The designated Shadow Soldier cannot be located.]

'How could this be!'

Jin-Woo began freaking out, his expression gradually hardening like stone.

'My soldier… has disappeared?'

The Shadow Soldier he needed to use as his coordinates for the skill 'Shadow Exchange' had disappeared without a trace, somehow.

He couldn't detect any trace of that particular solder at all.

And he could now definitely sense that the connection he shared with the soldier attached to Thomas Andre had been severed, just like when he sent some of the soldiers back to the void.

The cancellation of the Shadow Soldier independent of his will??

A confused-sounding voice leaked out of Jin-Woo's mouth next.

"What the hell has happened here?"

Lennart Niermann heard the weighty voice coming from behind him.

"Get out of the way."

The German had experienced a similar sort of situation before, but the emotion he felt right now was quite different compared to back then.

"Thomas Andre!"

The giant of a man large enough to block out the sun, that's Thomas Andre. Lennart Niermann's expression brightened the moment he discovered the American standing behind him.

Thomas Andre wordlessly walked past Lennart and slowly went up ahead.

Even those screaming people running away from the scene recognised the Special Authority-rank Hunter and his hulking physique, and their steps all gradually came to a stop.

"He, he's that American Hunter….."

"T-Thomas Andre??"

"It's the Goliath! THE Goliath!!"

Even the first rate Hunter Lennart Niermann felt his heart pound excitedly when seeing Thomas Andre's broad back as he walked forward. So, how would the regular people feel, when they were desperately fleeing in terror from the monster's dense killing intent?

"Ah, ah!"

"Oh, dear lord! Thank you!"

Some people even began plopping down on the ground from the sense of relief robbing their built-up tension, knowing that one of the world's best Hunters had come to save them.

Meanwhile, Thomas Andre angrily shouted at the other Hunters nearby who were all frozen stiff from the powerful pressure emitted by the unknown monster.

"Stop standing around like idiots, and start evacuating these citizens, you b*stards!"

The roar from the Special Authority-rank Hunter was more than enough to blow away the stifling pressure dulling the thought process of the other Hunters.

They understood his intention through that thunderous roar and began grabbing those citizens that had fallen behind to drag them far away from Thomas Andre. Lennart Niermann also cooperated with the evacuation of the powerless citizens along with his Korean counterparts.

The American stood tall in the middle of the street as if to protect them. And that 'monster' slowly made its way over in his direction.

The Special Authority-rank Hunter took off his sunglasses, his eyes narrowing to a slit.

What he saw was a beast covered in blood. Although it vaguely looked like one, there was simply no way that thing was a human being.

Veins bulged on Thomas Andre's face as he spotted the bits and pieces of the victims strewn messily about behind this 'beast'.

"A stinking beast who doesn't know its place has rampaged around for far too long."

As if to mock Thomas Andre's rage, the 'beast' bared its fangs covered in bits of flesh in a toothy grin.

Putting down a crazed animal was a universal truth, no matter where one was from. Thomas Andre's eyes became incomparably murderous right away.

"Reinforcement."

His muscles transformed like armour and his already-hulking physique grew larger and larger than before. As far as one's physical size was concerned, he was a step larger than this monster.

To find out the gap in the strength, Thomas Andre rushed towards his target.

A tank!

People watching and sensing the ground tremble every time he took a step forward instinctively pictured a powerful tank.

The beast smacked its lips at the appearance of a new prey and made its move as well.

Two giants closed their distance in an instant and stood before each other. At first, they exchanged glances studying their new opponent, and soon, they squeezed their muscles laden with massive magical energy while roaring out at the same time.

Two monstrous beings and their fists powerful enough to crush concrete like tofu began exploding out like bullets towards one another.

Boomboomboomboomboomboom!!

This exchange of fists relied solely on brute force with no consideration towards any type of techniques. Hunters watching on were left absolutely awestruck by this spectacle.

Just being kissed by one of those fists would result in instant death for these Hunters. But these two were trading such lethal blows without even taking a breather, without even bothering to block them, as if these punches were just light probing jabs.

'It's working.'

Thomas Andre grew sure of it now.

Pow!

His punch caused the beast's head to spin to the side. This heavy sensation of impact got transmitted to his left hand. This attack definitely worked.

After losing to Jin-Woo, the Goliath felt his confidence had plummeted somewhat, but through this dogfight, he felt it growing back again.

Boomboomboomboomboomboom!!

The continuous stream of powerful punches pushed the beast gradually backwards. Grabbing hold of this opening, Thomas Andre's fearsome full swing of his fist floored the b*stard right into the ground.

Kwa-boooom!!

Kwa-jeeeeeeeck!

The beast was shoved away as the concrete below split apart from the sheer force. The creature smashed into the side of a building and demolished its wall; only then did it finally stop moving.

Other Hunters watching on punched the air and celebrated, but the person responsible, Thomas Andre himself, didn't display any hints of joy.

'No, that was wrong. It wasn't…. as deep as I wanted.'

The thick dust cloud spread out, obscuring the vision. However, he could still sense the presence of the beast emitting the dense murderous intent from beyond the collapsed debris of the building.

Swish-!

Swiiish-!!

Suddenly, heavy hunks of metal flew out from the dust and at Thomas Andre's location. He smacked these flying cars away from him and quickly activated the skill, 'Capture', to yank the beast hidden from his sight closer to his position.

Wuuwoong!

The resisting beast was brought right up to the American's nose; he immediately activated his strongest skill.

"Demolition!!"

Muscles on both of Thomas Andre's arms ballooned up until they nearly popped. He slammed down on the ground with everything he had.

KWA-BOOM!!

The horrifying shockwave arising from the ground pummelled the beast.

[Kuuwahhh!!]

The beast cried out in agony as it was flung into the air before it came crashing back down.

Thomas Andre seized upon this chance and jumped on top of the monster, before proceeding to rain down his fists laden with an unbelievable amount of magic energy.

Skill 'Power Smash'!!

Boomboomboomboomboomboom!!

Waaaah!!

The citizens watching the battle between the Goliath and the beast from afar with anxious minds all began raising excited cheers. Even the Hunters began breaking out in relieved smiles as well.

No matter who saw it, this fight now had a clear victor. It was an overwhelming victory befitting the Special Authority-rank Hunter, often referred to as the world's best.

However….

Thicker and thicker drops of cold sweat began forming on Thomas Andre's forehead even as he mercilessly pummelled the beast down below.

'What is this?'

What was this anxiety, born from this sensation of a noose gradually tightening around his neck the closer he got to his victory?

Each and every one of his attacks was landing splendidly, and the beast being floored down below wasn't showing any signs of resistance.

So, why….?

'Why do I feel this anxious, even though I'm clearly in an advantageous position?'

Fairly quickly, though, Thomas Andre got to discover the source of his anxiety.

It was the eyes.

From the very beginning of the fight right up until now, the beast had been looking at him with the exact same apathetic eyes, even going so far to completely disregard the indiscriminate outpouring of his attacks.

It was as if the thing was mocking him, telling him to try and give his best shot.

Grit.

The Goliath was thoroughly enraged and raised his interlocked fists up high.

His shoulder muscles expanded in an instant, and thick veins bulged on his skin. Horrifying amounts of magic energy flowed into his shoulders, arms, wrists and fists, emitting a bone-chilling aura at the same time.

With this, it'd be the end.

Could this beast reopen those eyes again after being struck by 'Demolition' right in the epicentre of the skill?

With everything he had, Thomas Andre slammed down both of his fists.

"Demolition!!!!"

It was then.

He clearly saw it.

He saw the beast close its eyes for the briefest of brief moments before opening them to reveal that those eyes, previously resembling that of a human's, now fully resembling a wild predator's.

Grab.

The beast leisurely raised one hand up to easily stop Thomas Andre's two fists swung down with all his might.

The American looked at his hands, now held tight and couldn't be pulled back at all, and felt a chill run down his back.

[Even though you're a mere puppet of a Fragment, you managed to drag out this much power.]

The sounds similar to a predator growling caused Thomas Andre's expression to crumble.

"What was that?"

Right at that moment.

The black hair of the beast began to grow longer and longer as its colour changed to white.

That wasn't all; the nails resembling awls grew lengthier as well, while its fangs grew sharper, too. Soon, whitish fur covered its entire body.

'A Werewolf?!'

Unfortunately, there never had been a single instance of a white Werewolf making its appearance in ten years of humans going on raids.

"You…. Just what is your true identity?"

Thomas Andre threw that question out as he felt this ominous chill from the disgusting, vile magical energy oozing out from the beast's eyes.

Too bad, the creature didn't bother to answer him and proceeded to shatter the bones in the human's hands with nothing but sheer physical strength.

Wuduk!!

"Wuuuuaaahk!!"

Chapter 214 Fin.

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Unbridled astonishment!

The strongest Hunter screamed out and everyone else in the vicinity couldn't hide their shock and astonishment.

The helicopter dispatched from the TV station flying in the air filmed in its entirety Thomas Andre suffering in great pain.

Right in the middle of Korea's capital city, Seoul, where the focus of the world had gathered due to the appearance of the super-massive Gate – to think, a Special Authority-rank Hunter trying to stop a monster was screaming out in pain like that?

"How can this be….??"

All those watching the two being's fight, whether in the location itself or through various screens, prayed fervently in their hearts that this wasn't the end of this battle.

Too bad, the 'beast' snatched and then, slammed Thomas Andre's wrists into the ground as if to mock their prayers.

BOOM!!

It then climbed on top of Thomas Andre, reversing the previous position.

"Keo-heok!"

Blood spewed out from the Goliath's mouth as he bitterly resisted even with his broken hands, but now that the beast had fully revealed its true powers, he was unable to endure against his opponent's physical prowess.

The beast stomped on Thomas Andre's face and roared loudly into the sky.

Kuuwaaaaahhh-!!

The horrifying howl loud enough to tear out the eardrums of everyone listening reverberated like a thunderclap in the city's streets.

A predator didn't fight. It simply hunted its prey.

The Hunters nearby were overwhelmed by the howl containing an inconceivable amount of magical energy and began kneeling down one by one from the closest position to the furthest back.

As for Thomas Andre, the closest one to hear the howling, his eardrums had ruptured and blood leaked out from his ears.

The beast smirked derisively.

[Are you scared now?]

One of the joys a hunter could derive from the process of hunting was seeing the prey shiver in fear.

However, Thomas Andre didn't give up. He clenched his messed-up fist with great difficulty and threw a counterattack.

Pow!

Quite unlike before, when they exchanged many crippling blows earlier, the beast's head didn't even rock once.

The wall.

He looked into the disinterested eyes of the beast glaring down at him and began picturing an imposing wall stretching endlessly into the sky standing tall to block his path.

He had felt something similar to this once before.

What a strange thing this was; for a moment there, Thomas Andre thought he saw Jin-Woo within the beast's glare.

'But, how come….?'

He didn't have any chance to sort out his confusion, though, as an attack from the beast rocked his head violently side to side, the ground underneath caving into a crater.

BOOM!!

"Keok!"

That was just the start of the onslaught, though.

Boomboomboomboomboom!!

Just like how he had done, the beast began raining down powerful attacks from above. As if to teach the human what true attacks looked like, the vicious punches continuously slammed down without mercy.

Boomboomboomboomboom!!

Thomas Andre's lips continued to issue pained grunts over and over again, unlike back then when the beast simply withstood his punches.

"Keo-heok!"

It was then; the beast, in the midst of enjoying the pain of its prey, discovered something odd just beyond the human.

The beast stopped its attacks. What it was glaring at, as if to bore a hole into it, was Thomas Andre's shadow.

[I see that there's a rat hiding in there.]

Stab!

The beast stabbed its hand deep into the shadow and grabbed 'something' within the subspace.

Paht!

When the creature pulled its hand out, an ant soldier hiding inside the human's shadow was dragged out along as well.

The beast stood upright again. The ant soldier, its neck tightly grabbed by the powerful grip, desperately struggled but the monster didn't even budge from the spot.

"Kiiieehk!"

This one was a soldier belonging to the Shadow Sovereign.

It was impossible to destroy an immortal soldier like this one through regular means. However, the creature holding onto the ant's neck was no ordinary being, either.

The Sovereign of Beastly Fangs was a higher existence. It simply focused the energy inherent within the spiritual body to erase this ant soldier from the very fabric of existence altogether.

"Kiiahk!"

The ant soldier spat out a short death throe and turned into dust, returning to the void beyond. The beast grinned as it watched the grey ash scatter in the air.

It was then.

Thomas Andre got up and positioned himself behind the beast before anyone had noticed it. He then wrapped his arm around the creature's neck and secured his grip with the other arm.

If he lacked teeth, then he'd bite with his gums, instead!

His hands may be broken, but his arms and shoulders were still fine. Thick veins bulged on his arms as he poured in all his might to exert enough pressure to crush a steel beam in one breath.

"Pant, pant…."

Thomas Andre continued to gasp out breathlessly and concentrated on this final attack.

There would be nothing left after this. His eyes shot wide open in concentration as he clenched his teeth, fully knowing that he'd get killed if he missed this chance.

Wududuk, wuduk….

He heard the displeasing noises similar to bones being crushed into powder. If that was the sound of the enemy's neck breaking, then there was still a chance of victory here.

'….I've done it!'

Unfortunately, the incoming rush of pain had been slightly delayed by the adrenaline coursing through his body. Thomas Andre bore the full brunt and screamed out in agony.

"Wuaaaaahhhk!!"

The beast shattered the American's arms locked onto its neck with nothing but sheer physical hand grip. It then grabbed his head with both hands before proceeding to slam him down on the ground.

THUD!

Viewers watching this scene through their screens saw the Goliath's arms dangling around and quickly averted their gazes. It was a scene they simply couldn't bear to watch with their eyes open.

Too bad, the horrifying scene didn't stop there and continued on. The beast pounced on the sprawled Goliath and began biting him.

The predator's mealtime had begun.

Dozens of sharp, knife-like fangs began tearing into Thomas Andre's skin and made a mess out of his flesh.

"Euh-euhk! Wuaahk!!"

He didn't give up until the end and continued to desperately struggle, but it was obvious that he had no chance in hell right now. His blood poured out and the bits of his flesh flung into the air.

"Wuuuaahk!"

Seeing this horrendous, sickening sight, the other Hunters supposedly guarding the location began backtracking inadvertently in terror.

As for the regular people that had bet their hopes on the Goliath, they had scattered away in fear a long time ago after seeing the incoming end result.

However, something unexpected happened then; among the ranks of the hesitating Hunters, one man dashed forward like a bolt of lightning and ran straight towards the beast.

Boom-!!

The monster had been drunk on the victory and the taste of its loot, so it got caught unaware and was struck cleanly by this unexpected attack, which resulted in it getting flung away.

It was none other than Lennart Niermann. Germany's best Hunter quickly stood next to the grievously wounded Goliath.

Thomas Andre recognised Lennart and somehow managed to squeeze out his voice.

"Run… away…."

However, Lennart shook his hardened face.

"I'm also a Hunter, you know."

'….Although I'm far weaker than you.'

Back when he Awakened his powers and made up his mind to become a Hunter, Lennart had promised himself this one thing – that he'd never turn his back on a comrade.

Sure, they might not even be in the same team, but from Lennart's perspective, Thomas Andre was an exemplary comrade who was fighting against a common enemy.

Didn't matter what the American thought of him, because as a Hunter, the German simply couldn't back away from this situation.

'However…. Just staring at that thing face to face is making me break out in cold sweat here.'

Lennart watched the beast's expression crumple unsightly after its mealtime had been unceremoniously interrupted, and his own legs began turning to jelly right then.

Seeing him shiver like that, Thomas Andre opened his mouth again.

"You… will… die…."

He knew that already. Of course, Lennart knew that.

He didn't even have his equipment with him. And his strongest one-hit-kill trump card, the skill 'Charge', only managed to shove the beast away.

Germany's best Hunter?

12th in the world rankings?

He knew better than anyone that such things had no meaning in the current situation.

Even then…

'….I don't regret anything.'

Even if this moment turned out to be his last, he'd still choose exactly the same over and over again. Rather than the life of a coward, he would choose to go out in a blaze of glory!

'I'm not wrong. I am not wrong!'

Lennart continued to psyche himself up as he glared at the massive power gradually running faster and faster towards him.

'I'm definitely not wrong!'

He locked his eyes on the chill-inducing maw of the beast opening up wide as the monster closed the distance in an instant. Lennart summoned up every ounce of energy and swung his fist.

For a very moment there, the life he led up until this moment flashed past him like a revolving lantern. He didn't even work that hard yet this incredible power was handed to him, allowing him to live an overabundant and perhaps undeserved lifestyle.

But, he did live a happy life, didn't he?

That's right, he did.

A grin floated up on Lennart's lips as he saw the beast's throat approaching ever closer.

Indeed, he was not wrong. Right up until the end, he didn't live an embarrassing life.

Just before the beast's maw swallowed his head, Lennart quietly closed his eyes, thinking that there would be no more need to open them again.

But then!

Kwa-boom!!

A sudden noise of explosion coming from his front shocked Lennart and he quickly opened his eyes.

'What was that?!'

The beast struck by his fist was flying away in a straight line for dozens of metres before rolling ungainly on the ground. The asphalt cracked up into pieces, cars were blown away, and street lights were bent in the middle.

"Uh?"

'Was I this strong?'

Lennart dazedly stared at his fist, only to realise that someone was standing right next to him.

"Uh, uh??"

Confirming that man's face, Lennart joyfully cried out in a half-tearful voice.

"Seong Jin-Woo Hunter-nim!"

He was cutting it really close.

If he hadn't attached a Shadow Soldier to Lennart Niermann when the German came to the Guild office, would he be able to make it in time, even?

After confirming that the Shadow Soldier attached to Thomas Andre had disappeared, Jin-Woo searched for another one near the location and activated 'Shadow Exchange'. But to think, that Shadow Soldier just so happened to be the one in Lennart Niermann's shadow.

Thanks to that, he got to save the lives of these two men.

Jin-Woo hurriedly checked Thomas Andre's wounds and breathed a sigh of relief. The American's wounds looked pretty serious, but thankfully, he'd be able to survive.

He must've had no more energy left to even speak, as Thomas Andre could only quietly look up at Jin-Woo. The latter also remained silent but nodded his head as his reply.

He silently thanked the Goliath for his courageous effort in stalling for more time.

When he turned around, his ears were filled up with Lennart's emotional voice.

"Seong Jin-Woo Hunter-nim!!"

"Thank you for stopping that b*stard. My apologies, but can you evacuate Thomas to somewhere safe?"

Jin-Woo politely asked in English, and Lennart nodded his head energetically. Compared to fighting that monstrosity, this job sounded so much easier.

"Ah, yes! You don't have to worry about that one."

The German cautiously lifted Thomas up and hurriedly distanced himself. Meanwhile, Jin-Woo shifted his gaze over to the beast raising its body up.

Tangible, horrifying, murderous intent oozed from the creature. He sensed power on another realm compared to other monsters from the b*stard.

'I knew it….'

His guess was on the money.

This thing possessed a similar sort of aura to the Ice Elf he met earlier. It was, indeed, one of the Sovereigns that were hunting down the Hunters.

However, what was going on here? Unlike with the Ice Elf, this thing showed no signs of panic. No, more than that – even though its fight had been interfered with, it looked composed, nay, relaxed, even.

'But, why….?'

Did it possess a calm personality, to begin with? Even though it looked half man, half beast?

While Jin-Woo was stewing in his confusion, the beast emerged fully from the building's debris and walked leisurely over in his direction.

It was sloshing something in its mouth before spitting whatever it was to the floor. They turned out to be its broken fangs.

The beast glared at Jin-Woo who managed to break off several of its fangs with just a single punch and didn't even bother to disguise its surprise.

[So, it was for real. The smell of the Shadow b*stard is mixed in among that human's scent.]

The beast sniffed the air noisily and asked as if it had discovered something rather amazing.

[But then…. how can a human manage to bring out the power of a higher existence to this degree?]

'I raised up my levels, that's how. You dumba*s.'

Rather than choosing to solve the b*stard's curiosity, he summoned the pair of 'Kamish's Wrath', instead.

He had a lot of things to ask this Sovereign. But, the QA session could only take place after the battle was over and he had grasped the right to decide the creature's fate.

Glance.

Jin-Woo glanced at the traces of the victims still visible here and there in the street and an ice-cold murderous rage began overflowing out of his eyes.

But, then….

….The voice he hadn't forgotten yet suddenly resounded out right from next to the beast.

[It's possible that the architect has found a way. Well, the business dealings between the Shadow Sovereign and the architect started a long time ago, after all.]

The thin, fog-like smoke suddenly coagulated into a singular mass before morphing into a humanoid shape.

'Isn't that….?'

It was the ancient Ice Elf. The Sovereign of Frost, hiding its presence as a fog until now, had finally revealed itself.

Jin-Woo realised that the fog wrapped around the city was not a natural phenomenon the moment he came in contact with it.

And this time, it was from his behind.

[In that case, I can eat the corpse of this human, right?]

A weird female voice harsh enough to grate his ears came from behind him, and Jin-Woo quickly looked back.

And that's where he discovered a spectacle that made him doubt his own eyes.

Bashushushushu….

A horde of insects poured out from the sewerage and began merging into one to assume the shape of a humanoid female.

[I really want to find out what a fellow Sovereign tastes like, you see.]

Jin-Woo's expression hardened, now that he found himself suddenly surrounded by his enemies. And then, he realised it.

They gagged his Shadow Soldiers by confusing the signals not because they were worried about their hunt being disrupted by him. No, they did that in order to hide the fact that there were more than one of them here.

In other words, this was a trap. A trap laid out in the entirety of Seoul in order to box Jin-Woo in.

Sure enough, the System finally recognised the severity of the situation and urgently sent out warning messages.

[The King of Snow Folk, the Sovereign of Frost has designated you as an enemy.]

[The King of Beasts, the Sovereign of Beastly Fangs has designated you as an enemy.]

[The Queen of Insects, the Sovereign of Plagues has designated you as an enemy.]

Enemies possessing power on another scale altogether, and three of them to boot, too! His Black Heart, sleeping quietly until now, began to pound away madly at the entrance of these three incredibly powerful foes.

Ba-thump, ba-thump, ba-thump!

'Isn't this….'

….Good?

The corners of Jin-Woo's lips arched up.

These things were thinking that they had managed to surround him, but the thing was, he wasn't alone. In reality, they were the ones surrounded now.

Jin-Woo kept his senses ultra-sharp in order to not miss their movements and summoned out his army that'd surround his enemies.

'Come out!'

Chapter 215 Fin.

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New York, London, Shanghai, Paris.

Besides these cities, others around the world were all experiencing the phenomenon of their streets being draped in eerie silence right now. People had stopped walking and found themselves unable to tear their eyes away from the many electronic screens installed here and there.

Those large screens were continuously showing the breaking news regarding the horrifying tragedy unfolding in the capital city of South Korea, Seoul.

Because of the super-massive Gate's presence, the world's attention had been focused there already, so it was only normal that the news spread around like a wildfire.

TV stations in many countries interrupted their regular programming to broadcast live the current situation unfolding in Seoul.

Once the sight of a cityscape dripping with blood as filmed by the camera lens from the sky, the viewers around the world recoiled in sheer horror.

Seoul was one of the biggest metropolises in the entire world. But with such a city lying in ruins like that, it implied that their safety couldn't be guaranteed even within their own cities.

The tragedy of Seoul didn't feel like an incident happening in some distant country, but something that was happening to them personally.

Was that the reason why they felt relieved when Thomas Andre stepped up to put an end to the monster's rampage? The obviously-excited foreign correspondents, after their cameras caught the sight of America's best Hunter, began crying out his name repeatedly as if they wanted to damage their own vocal cords.

The viewers gathered their hands in prayer and with one heart, cheered Goliath on. And that was why the streets were filled with elated cries every time Goliath roughed up that beast-like monster.

"Yes! More! More!!"

"Destroy that thing! Goliath, kill that thing dead!!"

"Send it to hell!!"

Unfortunately….

The cheering and elated cries filling up the streets soon morphed into shocked silence as Goliath's fists were shattered, his arms were broken, and his blood and flesh were spilt onto the ground.

The viewers' arms raised up high in the air slowly lowered back to their sides. Some even began wordlessly shedding tears as they watched humanity's best warrior being horribly destroyed like that.

It was as if the time itself had frozen.

People rendered utterly speechless by the overwhelming shock couldn't even hear their own breathing. If this was a dream, then they wanted to wake up right about now.

Too bad, though, that the screen kept transmitting the images of Goliath and his pained screaming over and over again. The expression on the viewers' faces changed to that of even greater despair.

It was then.

A lone Hunter jumped out from somewhere and blew away the beast.

No, there were two of them. A black-haired man appeared without warning right next to the Caucasian Hunter.

Not just the viewers, but even the news anchors couldn't figure out what was going on and failed to hide their confusion.

Just what had happened?

Who were those two people?

It happened far too quickly, and also, the camera was filming from too far and couldn't capture their faces properly.

However….

The anchors saw the black soldiers filling up the streets in the blink of an eye and cried out until their voices turned hoarse.

[It's Hunter Seong Jin-Woo! Hunter Seong Jin-Woo has finally made his entrance!]

[We don't have to see his face! You can block out his name! Even then, we know who it is! Those black soldiers, that's 100% Hunter Seong Jin-Woo!!]

[The Goliath might have fallen, but the baton has been handed over to Hunter Seong Jin-Woo! His summoned creatures have surrounded the monsters!]

Waaaaah-!!

The viewers all around the world punched the air and cried out in elation once more as they watched the black soldiers completely cover up the streets of Seoul.

Especially the Americans, their unified roars were so loud that their cities seemed to rock from the noise itself. It was understandable, since they had lost one of their Special Authority-rank Hunters through tragic circumstances recently, and when even Thomas Andre found himself in danger, they had all fallen into a deep pit of mental shock.

Besides, the total number of views online for the Jeju Island raid featuring Jin-Woo had already surpassed 2 billion. Meaning, pretty much everyone knew his name by now.

And so, the whole world had begun chanting his name.

"Hey, hang on a minute! I know who that other Hunter is! Yeah, I know that guy! He's Germany's Lennart Niermann!"

This guy, who wished to boast about his discerning eyes, couldn't help but get swept away by the atmosphere and started chanting 'Seong Jin-Woo', his hands raised up high in the air.

The focus of the whole world was now on Jin-Woo's back.

The Shadow Army surrounded the three Sovereigns in a circle.

On top of the streets now darkened by the shadow with the help of the skill, 'Sovereign's Territory', the army's morale had hit its highest peak.

'So, how about it now?'

Jin-Woo scanned the faces of the three Sovereigns. They carried rather amused expressions.

The female giant, created out of insects, took a sweeping look at the streets filled with Shadow Soldiers and chuckled derisively.

[So, this is the new Shadow Army, is it?]

[The overall number isn't bad, but even then, they are nothing but a bunch of riffraff.]

Looking unconcerned in the slightest, the Sovereign of Frost took a step forward.

Fuu-whoop…

It sucked its breath in lightly before spitting out horrifyingly cold air that spread out everywhere in an instant.

Kwajeeck!

And in just one moment, everything standing on the ground became frozen ice sculptures. Even the Shadow Army was no exception.

'How can this be?!'

Jin-Woo confirmed that his soldiers had all frozen up and his expression hardened gradually.

The power of the Sovereigns that rendered the soldiers useless in one stroke – he had experienced something like this before, when he was facing off against the Sovereign of White Flames, Baran, back in the Demon's Castle instant dungeon.

If there was one glaring difference between then and now, that would be him having to face three enemies instead of one.

The soldiers trapped within the ice couldn't be freed even with his ability to store them back in his shadow.

[Your pitiful soldiers won't be able to take a single step outside the prison I have manifested.]

The Sovereign of Frost sounded confident of its victory after imprisoning the Shadow Army.

However, Jin-Woo's killing intent didn't waver for a second even under the current situation.

"You."

The tip of the Kamish's Wrath held in his right hand was pointed at the Sovereign of Frost.

"You will definitely die today."

The war potential of the Shadow Army always had been supplementary to his own. It was too bad that he couldn't rely on his soldiers now, but even then, he wasn't thinking of letting that Sovereign of Frost leave here alive.

After all, he had a score to settle with that b*stard,

Perhaps the Ice Elf felt the aching from the wound on its shoulder inflicted by Jin-Woo the last time, since its expression crumpled unsightly rather quickly.

[You insolent b*stard!]

The creature then raised its arms as if to lift something up, and suddenly, Golems made out of ice rose up from the ground.

At the same time, the queen of the insects whistled loudly. The corpses of humans lying strewn about all began standing up as well.

Kwa-duduk, kwa-dududuk, kwa-duk!!

The bones and joints of the corpses repeatedly twisted and shifted around until finally, they resembled monstrous spiders crawling on all four legs.

'Undead?'

….No, those weren't undead at all.

What moved the corpses were strange little parasites that had bored into the brains of the dead humans. Jin-Woo sensed the minute level of magic energy emitted from the parasites wiggling around inside the heads and he shifted his gaze over to the Queen of Insects.

[You think we killed all these humans indiscriminately for no reason?]

The Queen had inseminated the eggs of a very special parasite within the corpses of all the humans the beast had murdered.

Golems and parasites.

Jin-Woo stared at the enemy's army that couldn't be turned into Shadow Soldiers upon their deaths and realised how much his opponents had been planning for this day.

"Fuu-woo…."

He controlled his breathing.

The Golems and the animated corpses waltzed right past the frozen Shadow Soldiers and slowly encircled him. Meanwhile, he focused on the sounds of his heart quietly pounding away.

Ba-thump, ba-thump, ba-thump….

On his path to get here, he had encountered countless dangerous situations.

At this moment, as he closed his eyes, his extremely-honed senses accurately read and picked up on even the most minute movements his enemies made.

He could do this.

Just like how it had always been.

'….They're coming.'

He opened his eyes only to be greeted by the sight of the spider-humans pouncing on him. As the time slowed down, the pair of 'Kamish's Wraths' roared out in sheer anguish.

Sliiiiiice-!!

In an instant, every spider-human leaping in the air was bisected.

Boom!

Jin-Woo lightly kicked and leapt away from the punch of a Golem pounding down on his original position and searched for his primary elimination target. That would be the Sovereign of Frost, of course.

That b*stard was currently shouting at its Golems with an enraged face. However, it was impossible for these slow and lumbering things to catch up to Jin-Woo's speed.

He used 'Ruler's Authority' to fling himself at the Sovereign of Frost. Like a bullet, he flew forward in a scarcely-believable velocity.

He closed the distance in an instant. The Sovereign of Frost was panicking. Jin-Woo swung his shortsword with great power.

His aim was the skin on the b*stard's face that resembled the bark of an aged tree.

Unfortunately….

CLANG!

Just before the Kamish's Wrath could split the creature's face in half, something really hard blocked the trajectory of the blade. The beast, the Sovereign of Beastly Fangs, responded to Jin-Woo's attack with lightning-quick reflexes and blocked the shortsword in time.

[You think such a puny metallic toy can wound me in the slightest?]

The beast toothily grinned, its disgusting teeth full of blood and flesh now on full display. However, Jin-Woo also replied with a smirk.

'The human's laughing?'

Even before the beast had the time to sense the ominous foreboding, 'Kamish's Wrath' was suddenly enveloped in the black aura.

Slice!

The beast's wrist that rightfully boasted incredible hardness was cleanly severed from its arm. The creature's eyes opened wide.

It barely dodged the tip of the blade by leaning its torso backwards, but still, a lengthy and bloody line was drawn upon its chest.

It was then, Jin-Woo picked up on some powerful energy above him and he quickly looked up.

The Queen of Insects had formed a giant fist out of magical energy and was in the midst of slamming it down.

Swoooosh-!!

As he landed on the ground, Jin-Woo activated the skill 'Ruler's Authority' to shove away the Queen's fist. However, the force behind that attack was much greater than he anticipated and he could only barely stop it.

Boom!!

The invisible shield made out of 'Ruler's Authority' clashed against the Queen's fist and created a powerful shockwave that swept away the surrounding spider-humans.

Unfortunately, the number of animated corpses that still managed to rush at and pounce on his position far exceeded those who were swept away.

Jin-Woo stepped on the head of one spider-human and leapt up in the air. Then, he focused his magic energy in the 'Kamish's Wrath'.

BUZZ-!!

The black aura condensed on the vibrating blade began distorting the surrounding space.

In that moment….

"Uwaaah-!!"

Jin-Woo roared out powerfully as he swung the shortsword with all his might.

Kagagagagagagack!!

The magical energy concentrating on the end of the shortsword split into dozens upon dozens of slashes and swept away all the enemies right below him.

The Dragon's Claw!

The ranks of Ice Golems and spider-humans were halved in an instant from that single attack.

Unfortunately….

Swish-!

Jin-Woo quickly shifted his head to the side to find a large palm already arriving right in front of his nose. It cast a giant, dark shadow on his face.

'D*mn it.'

Realising that the attack was coming in at an unavoidable angle, he decided to raise his guard up, instead.

The Queen of Insects swatted Jin-Woo as if it was a human swatting a fly out of the air and slammed him into a building nearby.

BOOM!!

The impact force from that was so severe that another building across the road shook hard from the vibration.

Jin-Woo emerged out from the debris of the fallen building and keeled over to the floor to spit out a heavy gasp.

"Keo-heok."

He felt dizzy.

Vzzzz…..

Loud buzzing tinnitus assaulted his ears. His breathing quickened and his vision grew just a bit fuzzy. However, he had no time to stay here and catch his breath.

As soon as he raised his head, he spotted thousands of ice arrows floating up dozens of metres in the air above his head, all of them being the handiwork of the Sovereign of Frost.

Jin-Woo stood back up and stopped breathing for a moment there. And almost right away, the ice arrows filling up the sky shot down accurately to his current position.

Faster, faster!

Jin-Woo swung his shortswords and deflected away the magic arrows raining down without any break or gap in-between.

He was so fast that several afterimages began overlapping on top of one another.

'However, just how long will you be able to withstand our combined attacks?'

The Sovereign of Frost continued to fire the arrows endlessly as a sly grin floated up on its lips. When this human b*stard's movement slows down even for a second….

It was then.

Stab!

The Ice Elf's quaking eyes looked down to confirm the shortsword stabbing deeply into its chest. The liquid staining its hands was its own blood.

When it raised its head to look, the insolent human was glaring right back at the Sovereign, having had enough leeway to throw one of his shortswords even in the midst of deflecting all the ice arrows.

The burning rage, hot enough to boil all the blood in its body, rushed up to the Ice Elf's head.

[You d*mn human! How dare a measly little human wound a Sovereign like me!!]

Pah-ahhck!

Jin-Woo rapidly recalled the shortsword out of the creature's chest.

He struck the b*stard in the heart. Such a wound was more than enough to kill any regular humanoid creature, but unfortunately, that didn't seem to be a mortal wound to the Sovereign.

Still, that brought about an end to the rain of ice arrows. He firmly grasped the returning 'Kamish's Wrath' and grinned toothily at the Sovereign of Frost.

"I told you, didn't I? You won't be getting out of here alive."

[Kuwaaaahhh!!]

The Sovereign of Frost, thoroughly enraged while controlling its Ice Golems; the spider-humans controlled by the Sovereign of Plagues; and finally, the Sovereign of Beastly Fangs that had regenerated its severed wrist.

The latter moved its new wrist this way and that to test it out, before summoning out its own sword from the subspace, just like Jin-Woo had done.

All of their movements were caught in one go within Jin-Woo's vision. He grasped both Kamish's Wraths tightly and calmly collected his breaths as his enemies rushed at him again.

It was then.

Kwajijijick!

Accompanied by the noise of something solid splitting up, he was greeted from behind by a voice that sounded so much more brilliant to his ears today.

[My kingggggg!!]

Chapter 216 Fin.

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Only a few minutes ago.

Beru always prided himself as the most loyal subject to his king. But now, after getting trapped within the ice prison of the Sovereign of Frost, he realised what the taste of sheer powerlessness was like.

Was I really this weak?

Why did I continue to grow stronger? For what purpose was it?

Beru felt so pathetic by the fact that he couldn't do anything while his liege was being besieged by his enemies. However, there was nothing the former ant king could do.

The Sovereign of Frost was an existence on another level compared to Beru. And he didn't possess the requisite power to escape from this magic. All he could do now while trapped in ice was to pray that his liege would be safe.

Fortunately, his liege wasn't pushed back at all, even when facing off against transcendental enemies.

'As expected of my liege…. This lowly slave can only be moved by your greatness.'

Beru was so emotionally moved by his master's display of power that tears overflowed from his eyes as he continued to watch Jin-Woo's battle.

But then, the disadvantage of numbers gradually tightened around the neck of his liege. The progressively-worsening cycle of attacks and defences of the enemies began pushing Jin-Woo back and Beru desperately struggled against his restraints.

'My king!! My king!!!'

And finally, Beru watched as Jin-Woo was sent flying by the Sovereign of Plagues' large palm and slam into a wall.

The king was in danger. The king was in danger. The king was in danger!

'I must protect my king.'

Snap.

Something inside Beru's head snapped loose. The empty void where his reasoning used to be was replaced by the 'emergency mode' designed to protect his king.

"Kiiiiieeeehhk!"

Beru's expression crumpled to resemble a frightening devil as he screeched out loudly.

Arms, shoulders, neck, chest, thighs, calves, ankles! Every part of his body ballooned up at the same time and began pushing away the block of ice imprisoning him.

Crack, craaack!

The seemingly-inescapable ice prison began to develop several large cracks. Beru shook his entire body.

Kwa-jeeck!

The ice prison could no longer contain the power of the ant soldier going crazy inside and its surface cracked even more so. Even in the midst of this, there was only one thing in Beru's head – the thought of rescuing his king.

Kiiieeehk!

He poured out all his strength and twisted his body, causing a big crack to run down the ice block.

Kwa-jijijik!!

He used his sheer physical strength to prise out the gap even further and extricated himself from the ice prison. Beru then disregarded everything else while flying straight towards Jin-Woo's side.

"My kingggggg!!"

"Beru!"

Even before he felt happy at his master looking back at him, all those little nicks and scrapes on Jin-Woo's body entered Beru's vision first. They were caused by the insect woman when she smacked his liege into the building just now.

A mere insect woman dared to lay her hands on his king!

She dared to touch his king!!!

"Kiiiieeeehhk!!"

Beru's anger reached a new height and he flew directly at the Queen of the Insects. The thunderous screech of Beru reverberating throughout the battlefield that used to be city streets rendered the Sovereign of Frost quite surprised.

[A measly Shadow Soldier managed to break free of my binding magic?!]

Such a thing shouldn't even happen. It took a closer look at Beru's power in the 'emergency mode' for a second there and spat out a gasp of shock next.

This power didn't belong to some 'measly' Shadow Soldier at all.

[How did a mere human manage to rear up a Marshal grade being?]

Each and every single one of the soldiers with 'Marshal' grade acting as the Shadow Sovereign's hands and feet could be considered as destruction personified.

The Sovereign of Frost couldn't have imagined that it would see a Marshal grade creature today and failed to hide its astonishment. In the meantime, Beru had arrived right before the Queen of Insects, the target for his unquenchable rage.

[I must punish an unruly child that can't even recognise his own mother!]

"Kiiiieehhk, shut up, you crazy wench!"

[What did you say?!]

The resident of the Chaos World and the master of all insects living there, the Sovereign of Plagues got triggered by the former ant king's statement.

Vuuwoong!

Beru ably dodged an attack from the Insect Queen and took aim at the centre of the insects swarming together to form a single body before screeching out with his magical energy.

"Kyaaahk-!!"

The former ant king's thunderous roar forced the insects to fall off from the Queen's body in an instant, causing the real body of the Sovereign of Plagues hiding within to briefly reveal itself.

It was a humanoid female with rotting, distorted skin, and a pair of empty eye sockets filled with wriggling maggots.

The Sovereign of Plagues displayed violent rage against the detestable former ant king that dared to bare its fangs at its original owner.

"Kiiiaaahhk!!"

The screech from the Insect Queen resounded out loudly enough to tear asunder the heavens, and Beru was forced back with no way to block the attack.

He was pushed far, far back before he managed to regain his balance and floated back down to the ground.

"Kiiechk, kyahk, kyaahk."

While Beru was shaking his head left and right, a heavy groan leaking out of his mouth….

The Queen of Insects had managed to recall the bugs back to rebuild its giant body once more.

'Okay, that's good.'

Jin-Woo nodded his head after watching the exchange between those two.

Of course, he knew that Beru wouldn't last long. The enemy was far too strong for that. However, if he could just steal away the attention of one of these three….

While Beru was fighting against the Queen, Jin-Woo shifted his eyes back to the other two Sovereigns. The tension hidden within their eyes was transmitted in the air, and he could clearly sense it.

The amount of time Beru could buy him wasn't much.

So, move faster than anticipated!

Jin-Woo dashed towards the Sovereign of Frost with all his power.

Kwagagagagagak!

The impact force from each and every one of his steps destroyed the ground below. The Sovereign of Frost glared at Jin-Woo making a beeline towards him and created a sharp ice spear between its two hands.

But, just before he collided with his target, Jin-Woo abruptly changed his direction and leapt towards the Sovereign of Beastly Fangs, instead.

The Sovereign of Beastly Fangs was getting ready to counter the moment Jin-Woo attacked its fellow Sovereign, but it flinched in nasty surprise at this stunning movement.

By a mere whisker, the beast managed to block Jin-Woo's shortsword by nothing but sheer primal instinct. Its eyes shook hard.

Jin-Woo could only click his tongue as their blades remained locked like this.

'Che.'

He was planning to fatally wound this beast-like thing after making it assume that he was aiming for the ancient Ice Elf, instead. The reflexes of the Sovereign of Beastly Fangs were faster than Jin-Woo's expectation.

However, it wasn't as if it was a total waste of time. He sensed the creature getting flustered just then.

'I must push this b*stard back like this.'

In the blink of an eye, he gripped the Kamish's Wrath in reverse grip and rained down a barrage of powerful attacks.

The horrifying sounds of air tearing up resounded throughout the area as the ultra-sharp blades left behind countless cut marks in the surroundings.

Clang!! Khang! Claaang!! Cah-hang!! Clang!!

The beast became fully occupied with defending against Jin-Woo's shortswords. Step by step, the creature was pushed back as it gradually lost out to his speed. The look of panic began clouding its face.

But then…

Jin-Woo sensed this sharp killing intent right behind him and urgently tilted his torso out of the way. The Sovereign of Frost thrust its ice spear and it slid past the location where his waist had been, barely missing him.

The ancient Ice Elf had entered the fray between Jin-Woo and the beast.

For the brief moment their eyes met, Jin-Woo discovered this incredibly heavy enmity from the eyes of the Elf b*stard.

Grit.

The grating noises of grinding teeth leaked out from Jin-Woo's mouth.

He slapped away the ice spear with his shortsword and quickly closed the distance as the Sovereign of Frost's posture crumbled from the after-effects of the weapon shaking loose in its grip.

Swish-!

He swung his blade, hoping to slice up the arrogant eyes of the creature, but regrettably, he missed by a hair's breadth. Instinctively pulling its head back to escape the danger, the expression on the ancient Ice Elf crumpled into something unsightly.

'Too bad, but….'

What followed after the attack was to defend. Jin-Woo ably blocked the beast's blade as if he knew it was coming.

CLANG!

Blocked again by a whisker; however, there was no time to sigh in relief after blocking the attack. The Sovereign of Frost grasped its spear again and commenced with its counterattack. The beast, too, came at him with its own barrage of attacks.

At the back, the Sovereign of Frost.

From the front, the Sovereign of Beastly Fangs.

Scary attacks from the two monsters possessing powers on another level rained down on him.

However…

Clang! Claaang!! Clang, clang, clang!! Claaang!! Claaang! Clang, clang, clank, clang, clank, clang!!

Two lengthy shortswords flashed about like bolts of lightning to either block or deflect all attacks coming from the two monsters.

Jin-Woo's movements had now firmly surpassed the limits of one's vision and they resembled just one long afterimage. It even looked as if he was blending into the already-blurry shapes of the two Sovereigns.

It went without saying that he couldn't possibly have seen every single attack coming in from his front and back, and respond to them in time with nothing but his eyes.

However, he could see something else, and that was the flow of each incoming attack. Things like pre-movement, the eyes, breathing, muscles twitching, the direction of magic energy, etc.

His sensory perception pushed to the absolute limit didn't miss out on a single little thing and accurately read each and every one of the enemies' attacks.

'….I can see it.'

That was why, just a little bit more! If he could go a little bit faster and surpass these b*stards…

'Faster, faster, faster, faster, faster!'

As the countless hits were exchanged, he got faster and faster. The complexions of the two Sovereigns fighting Jin-Woo hardened more and more.

'But, how…. how could this….?!'

'It's impossible! This human can't be fully utilising the power of the Shadow Sovereign!!'

But that wasn't it. Their enemy had exceeded the limits of humanity and was evolving further and further right before their eyes. That's when the two Sovereigns remembered it – the fear they held towards the strongest king that ruled the Chaos World.

And this happened around the same time.

Pah-ahck!!

Jin-Woo crossed blades with the weapons of both Sovereigns and then, with nothing but his physical strength, shoved them both far away.

Shock and astonishment quickly dyed the expressions of the two Sovereigns.

Lennart Niermann was sure of it now.

He was sure that there was no one else around here that could chase after the battle of those three with their bare eyes except himself, as long as the grievously-wounded Thomas Andre remained lying on the ground while being treated by the Healers surrounding him.

Even then, he couldn't clearly chase after Jin-Woo's movements with his eyes.

Only sighs of admiration kept leaking out of his mouth.

Hunter Seong Jin-Woo was not being pushed back by an inch even though he was fighting against the 'beast' that subdued the Special Authority-rank Tanker with brute strength, as well as a monster that froze up the vast ground with a single breath.

And soon, Hunter Seong's shape simply melted into thin air and only the series of unending metallic clangs reverberated around the battlefield.

It was as if there was a violent storm whipping about only around where he was.

"What…."

Thomas Andre couldn't win against his curiosity, roused up from all those suspicious explosive noises, and had to ask.

"….What is going on?"

Lennart murmured with disbelieving voice, unable to tear his gaze away from Jin-Woo.

"It's as if…."

If the monsters capable of destroying the world were engaged in an almighty dogfight, would it create a situation similar to this one?

"….I'm looking at the end of the world."

Lennart spat out his genuine thought stewing in his head, not even bothering to dress it up in fancy words, and shook his head. The sole silver lining in this dark cloud was the fact that one of the three happened to be on the side of humanity.

It was then.

"Kiiiieeeeeehhhk!!"

Jin-Woo heard Beru's scream and his head snapped in that direction.

The former ant king was being trampled under the Queen of Insect's foot and was putting up a desperate struggle to escape, but it was proving to be inadequate.

At that moment, Jin-Woo's eyes widened. Magical energy was leaving Beru's body and his existence was gradually thinning out.

'Could that be how the soldier attached to Thomas's shadow was erased, too?'

Jin-Woo quickly slapped back the attacks of the two Sovereigns and tried to summon Beru back to his shadow.

Unfortunately….

[The designated target cannot be called back.]

[The designated target cannot be called back.]

The System repeated the same message over and over again like a dumb little parrot. Jin-Woo's expression hardened.

He couldn't afford to lose Beru like this. That guy was one of his most precious soldiers and at the same time, the greatest fighting power within the Shadow Army.

'If Beru disappears and stops distracting the Queen of Insects, then this precarious balance will break down.'

This problem was also linked to his current battle as well. Jin-Woo once more shook off the ice spear and the blade heading his way and dashed towards the Queen of Insects.

Since the Queen was far too focused on destroying the most powerful Shadow Soldier, it discovered Jin-Woo's approach a little too late.

[Human!!!]

Just like what Beru showed him, he concentrated his magical energy in his throat.

"Uwaaaah-!!"

His loud yell, carrying a horrendous amount of magic energy, slammed into the insects wrapped around the Queen and blew them away. After its true visage was revealed once more, the Queen failed to disguise its fluster.

[Kyahk!!]

It hurriedly spat out a green-coloured liquid onto Jin-Woo's face, but he simply activated 'Ruler's Authority' to deflect it away. As for the obvious poison remaining in the air, his passive buff easily neutralised it.

[Effects from 'Skill: Strong Poison' have been detected in the surrounding air.]

[Effects of 'Buff: Detox' will now commence.]

[3, 2, 1…. Detoxification has been completed.]

The powers of the Sovereign of Plagues couldn't threaten Jin-Woo in the slightest, and she was already within his attack radius. In that brief moment, a cold gleam flickered within his eyes.

'Just now, the Sovereign of Frost didn't die when its heart was pierced.'

There was a good chance it'd be the same story for this Sovereign of Plagues, too.

In that case – since he had no idea where this creature's weakness was, he might as well continue to attack until he found it. Jin-Woo got even closer until he was within touching distance to the Queen of Insects and gripped his shortswords real tight.

'Violent Slash!'

Dududududududududu!!

The blades rained down like buckshots on the Queen of Insects and turned the creature's entire body into a torn rag in an instant.

[Aaaaaahahk?!!!]

However, the maggots wiggled and tangled with each other inside the monster's body to quickly restore its body.

'Regeneration?'

It wasn't a problem, though. If it possessed an ability to regenerate its body, then all he had to do was continuously pour out attacks that surpassed the rate of regeneration. That was all.

Jin-Woo chased after the Queen of Insects being knocked back and activated the skill, 'Violent Slash', over and over again.

Dududududu!! Dududududu!!

[Aaahahahaaahk!!]

The 'Kamish's Wraths', carrying the jet-black aura, fired out without a single break like a gun with infinite ammo.

"Uwaaaaah-!!"

He activated 'Violent Slash' with all his might, repeatedly, until he completely disintegrated every little bit of flesh that the Queen of Insects could potentially regenerate.

And eventually….

[You have killed one of the Nine Sovereigns, the Sovereign of Plagues, 'Querehsha'.]

[Level up!]

[Level up!]

[Level up!]

The ecstasy of level-up messages filling up his vision still felt great.

'Nice!'

However, when recalling the fact that he still had two more enemies aiming for his neck, he couldn't lounge around feeling happy for himself.

Jin-Woo urgently tried to turn around towards the direction of the intense murderous intent in order to defend himself, but….

….His enemy was just a little bit quicker.

While he was preoccupied with killing the Sovereign of Plagues, someone rushed towards him and extended its long hand. Five separate strands of sharp wind blew in from behind his back.

Stab!

Jin-Woo discovered five claws plunging past his chest.

The beastly Sovereign had completely transformed itself into a Werewolf and accurately stabbed Jin-Woo's back with five blade-like claws on its right hand. All five had penetrated through his vital point. Jin-Woo's body froze up at that moment.

Drop.

Clang…

The pair of 'Kamish's Wraths' fell from Jin-Woo's hands.

The Sovereign of Frost stood before him. Icy cold air spun and coagulated in the Ice Elf's hand and created an ice dagger.

[This is the end.]

The ice dagger stabbed Jin-Woo in his belly.

Stab!

Beru had barely regained his consciousness by then and cried out in anguish.

"M-my king!!!"

The ant soldier forced himself to stand back up on his unsteady legs but Jin-Woo simply shook his head at him. Even then, Beru extended his claws and tottered ungainly towards the Sovereign of Frost.

"Kiiieeehk!"

The despair and sorrow Beru felt was being transmitted in full to Jin-Woo as well. And that was why he didn't want to see his ant soldier get erased at the hands of these Sovereigns.

Just before Jin-Woo could issue an order to return, it was now the turn of Beru to shake his head as tears fell from his eyes.

However, Jin-Woo still had Beru return to his shadow. Against his will, the former ant king reverted back to the shadow form and quietly merged with his master's shadow.

Completely assured of its victory now, the ancient Ice Elf began moving that tree-bark-like skin to form a contorted grin.

[Is this as far as you can go, human?]

The b*stard leaned in closer to whisper in Jin-Woo's ear.

[In that case, I guess you won't be able to see it, then. You will not get to see the moment our armies set foot in this world. When that happens, the corpses of humans will form mountains, and their blood will form endless rivers.]

The Sovereign of Frost distanced itself from Jin-Woo's ear and stared at his hardened expression before forming an insidious grin.

[However, this country you grew up in will be different. I shall personally freeze every single human on this land and make sure they suffer eternal hell, all because you walked among them. I shall ensure that they enjoy an existence neither living nor dead for all eternity.]

The icy coldness spread out from the dagger stabbing into his belly and froze up Jin-Woo's body. As the icicle reached up to his face, his eyes continued to emit flames of sheer anger.

Even then, the Sovereign of Frost was smirking derisively.

[Yes, resent me endlessly in your death. That, too, will serve to please me even more.]

The Ice Elf yanked the dagger out and immediately, stabbed it into Jin-Woo's heart. The icy blade oozing whitish light easily shattered his rib bones and accurately penetrated his heart.

Stab!

The Sovereign of Frost confirmed that the human's heart had been destroyed and pulled the dagger out. Jin-Woo powerlessly collapsed to the ground.

His head clattered on the hard surface and he felt this crippling vertigo. At the same time, he sensed his two enemies getting further away from him.

'Not yet….I can still….'

He tried to move again, but he didn't possess a single bit of energy left to even lift a finger. Along with the abrupt loss of all senses, his consciousness rapidly dimmed.

And everything he could see and hear became submerged within inky darkness.

The human's heart finally stopped operating.

When that happened…

On top of the unmoving Jin-Woo, several System messages began floating up.

[HP of 'Player' has reached '0'.]

['Player' has died.]

['Player' is in possession of the 'Black Heart'.]

[You have met all the requirements for 'Passive Skill: (Unknown)'.]

['Passive Skill: (Unknown)' has been activated.]

The Skills information window opened up by itself and a small change occurred to one of the Skills within the blinking 'Passive' column.

[Skills]

Passive Skills

– (Unknown) Lv. MAX

– Tenacity Lv.1

– Master of Shortsword Lv. MAX

Shururuk….

[Skills]

Passive Skills

– Evolution Lv. MAX

– Tenacity Lv.1

– Master of Shortsword Lv. MAX

Chapter 217 Fin.

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"Are you awake now?"

After hearing that familiar voice, Jin-Woo quickly opened his eyes. He saw a white ceiling, and the smell of disinfectant stung his nose. Although the sensation of the hard bed kissing his back was different, he could easily tell just where he was.

This was a hospital.

But, didn't he definitely feel the sensation of his heart shattering when the ice-cold dagger stabbed into his chest?

'Even then…. I'm still alive?'

Jin-Woo raised his upper torso up.

He immediately spotted two men standing near his bed, making anxious faces as if they had been waiting for him to regain his consciousness for a long time. One of them was someone Jin-Woo knew very well.

"Association President Woo Jin-Cheol! The Sovereigns….. No, what happened to those monsters? How am I still alive?"

Woo Jin-Cheol shared confused looks with the fellow agent of the Monitoring Division next to him, took his sunglasses off before addressing Jin-Woo.

"There are three things I must tell you."

He pulled a chair close to the bed and settled down. The junior agent quickly stepped behind him.

"Firstly, I'm not the Association President, but the Chief of the Monitoring Division. Secondly, we are here to ask you about the animated stone statues. And finally…."

A powerful glare oozed out from Woo Jin-Cheol's scrutinising eyes.

"….How do you know about me? Have we met before, somewhere?"

"H-hold on, wait! You said something about animated stone statues?!"

"After we received the report from the survivors and arrived on site with the White Tiger Guild, it was already…."

"No, no. Hang on. That's not it…."

Jin-Woo quickly cut Woo Jin-Cheol off and shook his head in dumbfoundedness. Several emotions, impossible to describe in words, rushed in.

Could it be….?

Jin-Woo raised his head and stared at the ceiling.

He was thinking that it was an oddly familiar sight ever since he opened his eyes, but he really was back here.

'Makes sense why it's so familiar….'

He spent almost two weeks in this place, after all. This was the VIP patient room provided by the Hunter's Association.

He was back in the hospital room where he opened his eyes for the first time after barely managing to survive the dual dungeon incident. Thinking back to what Woo Jin-Cheol said just now, it didn't seem like the location wasn't the only thing here that was the same.

'But… how can such a thing even be possible?'

Jin-Woo remained utterly confused and dazed, leading Woo Jin-Cheol to cautiously ask him.

"….Are you feeling alright?"

Jin-Woo's head dropped lower and he massaged his temples as a migraine gradually crept in. He didn't forget to wave around his hand as a gesture to tell the others to not to worry about him.

"I…. Can I be left alone to organise my thoughts? Please hurry up with measuring my magical energy so we can end this quickly."

Woo Jin-Cheol stared dazedly at Jin-Woo with an expression that roughly said, "How did you know that we have been suspecting you going through a Re-Awakening?" before he quickly shook his head as if to get rid of all the distracting thoughts.

"We'd like to hear what happened inside there before we proceed. If you have seen something strange before losing your consciousness…."

"Like I told you before, I don't remember anything."

Did they ever meet and converse with Hunter Seong Jin-Woo before?

No, never.

Definitely not.

As a man of the Monitoring Division, Woo Jin-Cheol never forgot the face of a Hunter he met, even if it was only one time. And his memory definitely didn't hold information on anyone with the name of 'Seong Jin-Woo'.

'Looks like his memories are all jumbled up from going through a serious mental shock.'

Woo Jin-Cheol decided as thus while looking at Jin-Woo's current condition. In that case, he figured that he might as well finish what he came here to do and return as soon as possible. He addressed his underling next.

"Bring it here."

The junior agent heard the order and brought along the miniature magic energy measuring device.

'Hah….'

A helpless chuckle leaked out of Jin-Woo's lips as things played out exactly like his memories.

"All you have to do is to place your hand on this magic crystal for a little while."

"Okay."

The measuring process ended quickly thanks to Jin-Woo's cooperation.

However, Woo Jin-Cheol began frowning greatly as he tried to confirm the results. He prodded the device several times before shifting his gaze over to the junior agent.

"Why isn't the device working? Didn't I tell you to check it before leaving the HQ?"

"Pardon me?"

The junior agent couldn't hide his fluster and hurriedly inspected the device from this angle and that, but obviously, nothing changed by doing that.

The device that was operating perfectly up until just now suddenly switched itself off as soon as it touched the hand of the subject. And it didn't want to work again.

'Tsk.'

Woo Jin-Cheol quietly tutted at the mistake of his junior agent and apologised to Jin-Woo before asking for his understanding.

"Looks like there has been some sort of mistake on our part here. Do you mind waiting for a little bit? We should be able to go and fetch a new device very soon. This process must be performed during the investigation of this incident, and we ask for your coopera….."

Even before his words came to an end, Jin-Woo nodded his head. Woo Jin-Cheol led his junior agent and left the hospital room. However, he only took a few more steps before coming to a stop. He turned around again.

'What's going on?'

Jin-Woo raised his head slightly when Woo Jin-Cheol acted a little differently to how he remembered it.

The Chief of the Monitoring Division stood before the bed and asked.

"By any chance…. Are you aware of the punishment in store for being a fake registrant?"

"I've met my fair share of high-ranking Hunters in my life. However, I've never met any Hunter with eyes like yours. If you're hiding something, now's the time to…."

"I've nothing to hide."

Jin-Woo cut him off again. Woo Jin-Cheol wordlessly studied the man sitting up on the bed before politely bowing his head.

"We've inconvenienced you."

Jin-Woo watched Woo Jin-Cheol leaving the hospital room's door and inwardly thought that he definitely better suited the role of the boss of the Monitoring Division rather than that of the Association President.

Besides all that, though….

"….Status Window."

He wasn't surprised in the least by the message floating in the air and took a look at the Status Window displaying his current level.

Name: Seong Jin-Woo

Level: 146

Class: Shadow Sovereign

Title: Demon Hunter (extra 2)

HP: 93,300

MP: 155,720

Tiredness: 0

[Stats]

Strength: 324

Endurance: 320

Agility: 340

Intelligence: 340

Perception: 321

(Available points to distribute: 0)

Reduction in physical damage: 65%

Reduction in magical damage: 44%

[Skills]

Passive Skills

– Tenacity Lv.1

– Master of Shortsword Lv. MAX

Active Skills

– Quicksilver Lv. MAX

– Intimidation Lv. 2

– Violent Slash Lv. MAX

– Dagger Rush Lv. MAX

– Stealth Lv. MAX

– Ruler's Authority Lv. MAX

[Class-specific Skills]

Active Skills

– Shadow Extraction Lv. 2

– Shadow Storage Lv. 2

– Sovereign's Territory Lv. 2

– Shadow Exchange Lv. 2

'My level's gone up a lot since the last time I took a look at it. Is it because of the experience points I earned after killing the Sovereign of Plagues?'

That wasn't all, either.

Everything he had stored in his Inventory until now was also waiting for him as they always had been. He even spotted the pair of 'Kamish's Wraths' resting quietly on the very first column of the Inventory and formed a hollow smile.

He had somehow returned to the beginning with everything he had achieved so far.

'Well, the Shadow Soldiers aren't here anymore, but….'

But, his army could be rebuilt in no time at all. Since he had retained all of his prior abilities and memories, he was confident of doing a better job this time around.

However….

….Just how did this happen?

Why was this thing happening?

Although he was given the second go at life here, all sorts of possibilities fleeted in and out of his head and he couldn't be happy about his current situation at all.

Jin-Woo carefully combed over his memories, wondering if he had overlooked something, before his head rose up.

'Should be here soon….'

As he expected; just like how he remembered it, his little sister pounced into the hospital room with excellent timing.

"Oppa!!"

After she lost almost all of her school friends at the hands of the Orcs, there always had been a shadow cast on her expression even when she was smiling. But, right now, there was no hint of such darkness on her face.

Jin-Woo's heart softened from seeing her expression and he tightly hugged her.

"O-Oppa??"

Jin-Ah was planning to urge her oppa to give up being a Hunter when he regained his consciousness, but now that she lost her initiative to him, she became rather flustered, instead.

"What's going on? What's gotten into you? Did you hit your head?"

Eventually, her oppa ended the hug and grinned refreshingly. Seeing him behaving like this, all thoughts of anger dissipated from her mind and she could only tilt her head this way and that with a puzzled look on her face.

She couldn't put her finger on it, but her oppa seemed somewhat different from the normal. Now that she took a closer look, she kind of got the impression that her oppa had grown a lot taller since the last time she saw him a few days ago.

While Jin-Ah was falling deeper into confusion, Jin-Woo was able to use this lull to organise his thoughts better. He then began thinking about things he needed to do, step by step.

A short while later, he lightly chased his little sister out and changed his clothes before stepping outside the hospital room himself.

Since these clothes were his old ones, they didn't fit his size now, and because he had survived a life or death situation, their condition was at their absolute worst, as well. But what choice did he have?

He certainly couldn't walk around the city in a patient gown now, could he?

Jin-Ah watched her brother walk right past her in hurried steps and called out to him.

"Oppa?! Where are you going now?"

"To the Hunter's Association."

"Why there??"

"To tell them I'm giving up being a Hunter."

"Really???"

Jin-Woo looked back at his little sister and her wide open eyes.

"I know that you asked permission to leave from your school to come here, so you should go back now."

"Whaaat-?!"

Jin-Ah watched on with an expression gradually becoming even more confused as her oppa's back disappeared from view.

The Association employee confirmed the re-evaluation test results once more and continued to rub his eyes over and over again.

It had been two years since Cha Hae-In's appearance, hadn't it?

The employee looked up at the tenth Hunter to reach the 'unable-to-measure' category in Korea and his complexion paled greatly. Since Jin-Woo's outward appearance looked so wretched like a pauper, the employee was dismissive about this young man, but to think, he turned out to be a genuine rank S Hunter.

"T-the device we have right now can't measure your magic energy level, Seong Jin-Woo Hunter-nim."

"I know. But before we do the re-test, I'd like to speak to the Association President first. Will that be alright with you?"

"Y-you mean, the Association President??"

"Yes."

Jin-Woo was already familiar with the re-evaluation procedures. The Association employee became dazed by this request for a meeting with the Association President and picked up the phone to make the call.

"Y-yes, yes. That's correct. He's definitely 'unable-to-measure'. Understood. Yes. I shall give him the message."

Indeed, the Association President agreed to meet this young man.

"I, I shall escort you to the office of the Association President…."

"I know where it is already. Thanks for the offer, but it's okay."

Jin-Woo bade a short goodbye and walked straight to the elevator. The employee looked at his departing back with an expression of utter loss.

'How can an outsider know where the President's office is?'

Too bad for the employee, the elevator stopped on the correct floor where the Association President's office was.

"Heot…."

The employee watched the floor display of the elevator with a worried expression before gasping out softly in surprise.

Ting….

Jin-Woo stepped out of the elevator and immediately discovered a familiar face walking past him in order to enter the lift. He turned around to address this man.

"Excuse me."

The man pressed the 'door open' button to stop the elevator when Jin-Woo turned to look at him.

"Are you talking to me?"

"You haven't disclosed the fact that you possess the 'Stealth' skill. You're an upper-rank Hunter, but your name wasn't on the list of those under the Association's strict management."

The Hunter affiliated with the Monitoring Division, Kahng Tae-Sik's expression hardened instantly.

"But how….?"

"Someone will ask you to avenge his daughter soon. I don't care what happens to the criminals. However, if the innocent Hunters get hurt in that incident, you will die by my hands. Understand?"

Jin-Woo emitted just a little bit of his killing intent, causing Kahng Tae-Sik to flinch and reach into his waist. However, it wasn't there.

Kahng Tae-Sik continued to rummage around his waist for a while before finally realising that his knife had disappeared.

"You looking for this?"

Jin-Woo casually tossed a knife up and down before handing it back to him.

Kahng Tae-Sik quickly recognised that Jin-Woo was on a completely different level compared to all the other Hunters he had been dealing with so far and wordlessly took the knife back.

"You get only one warning."

Knowing that this young man could easily dissect him into tiny little pieces if he wanted to, Kahng Tae-Sik slowly nodded his head while pocketing the knife. And then, he asked a question as Jin-Woo turned around to leave.

"Look here, man…. Just who are you? Have we ever met before?"

Jin-Woo didn't bother to reply and quietly continued to make his way to the Association President's office. After this mysterious man went away, Kahng Tae-Sik looked down at his cold sweat-soaked palms and lifted his finger away from the 'door open' button.

"….Feels like I've been entranced by a phantom, doesn't it?"

'Association President….'

Jin-Woo's steps came to a halt.

Goh Gun-Hui, still alive, was sitting behind his desk going through his documents right now. Jin-Woo stood by the doorway and stared at the Association President with eyes filled with nostalgia.

Meanwhile, Goh Gun-Hui chuckled good-naturedly.

"Although you opened my door with so much confidence, it seems that you're a bit lacking in spirit there. It's fine for you to come inside, Seong Jin-Woo Hunter-nim."

Goh Gun-Hui stood up from his chair and walked out in front while suggesting that they take a seat on the couch. He settled down on the couch opposite of Jin-Woo and asked the younger man.

"Would you like to sit down?"

Abruptly, the current Goh Gun-Hui overlapped with that of the Goh Gun-Hui he met for the first time and Jin-Woo's expression stiffened for a brief moment. He stood there with an expressionless face for a second or two, before settling down as well.

"Thank you. I will."

Goh Gun-Hui studied the young man before him and spoke up first.

"Seeing that you came to see me right away after your re-evaluation test, may I assume that you know about the 'normal' procedures?"

"Yes, basically."

"In that case, let me not beat around the bush and be direct with you."

"Before that, I'd like to make a deal with you first, Association President."

"A deal?"

Initially, Goh Gun-Hui felt rather flustered by this young man, who was acting as if he knew he'd be a rank S Hunter from the beginning. However, being spunky was an excellent weapon wielded by the young, was it not?

For some reason, Goh Gun-Hui didn't find this young man in front of his eyes dislikeable at all. Maybe that was why he didn't bother to hide the smile naturally floating up on his lips and paid attention to Jin-Woo's words.

"What is it that you want from us, Hunter-nim?"

"Please, change the regulations so that even the summoned creatures called out by the Hunters are counted as raid team members."

"You want me to change the regulation…. That's a rather difficult request, isn't it? I expect an attractive offer from you, powerful enough to sway my mind."

Jin-Woo took his time before making his reply.

"I will kill all the ants on Jeju Island."

Right now, replenishing his army took precedence over everything. And Jeju Island was practically crawling with the finest quality monsters ready to be turned into Shadow Soldiers.

As long as this offer was accepted, not only would he get to solve the issue of filling up the ranks of the Shadow Army, he would also be spared from the headache of not having usable members in the future as well.

Before he woke his mother up with the 'Divine Water of Life', he wanted to finish this part of the job first.

However, what Jin-Woo said came across as a desire to kill himself to Goh Gun-Hui's ears.

"Don't say something that nonsensical, young man!"

Such a reaction was fully expected. Jin-Woo didn't lose his cool and calmly released all of the magical energy resting within himself for a very brief moment.

A bottomless and vast power defying all attempts to estimate its true scope spread out from Jin-Woo's body.

The truly strong could recognise a fellow strong being; the Association President, often called the 'sky above the sky' shook his head in utter disbelief.

"How…. Just how…. What on earth… is this?"

He powerfully shuddered. Never before in his entire life had he felt this amount of magic energy emitted from another human being.

A Special Authority-rank Hunter? No, this power had far surpassed their levels. The Association President simply couldn't bring his slack jaw to a close.

"I can take care of all the ants on Jeju Island."

Didn't Goh Gun-Hui once say that doing so was his life's wish?

The older man was about to chide Jin-Woo for being immature and reckless, but after seeing the resolute expression on Jin-Woo's face, his own expression quickly changed as well.

"Are you… being serious?"

Jin-Woo nodded his head.

"This is something only I can do. Please, leave it to me."

Jin-Woo took a long sweeping look at the corpses of ants strewn about from one end of the land all the way to the other side. And he looked below his feet where Beru, no, the ant king's corpse was resting quietly.

It hadn't been that long since he had seen his loyal soldier, but Jin-Woo yearned to hear Beru's voice busily calling out to his king again. So, he quickly shouted out towards the ants.

"Rise up."

When he did, Shadow Soldiers rose up from the shadows of every single ant he could see. Beru was among them, too.

"Oh, my king…."

Jin-Woo took in the sight of several thousand ants kneeling all around him and slowly nodded his head. A brand new army was here.

The new Shadow Army, starting from the most perfect state imaginable, swore their loyalty to their new master.

However…

After talking to his new soldiers, he became sure of it.

"….Let's stop this."

Even though a new Shadow Army had been created, there was this gaping hole in his heart that didn't want to fill back up.

Beru looked up with worry, but Jin-Woo knew that even that expression and emotion were all a lie. And that was why his heart ached even more so as he looked at his soldiers.

Thick veins popped up in his throat as he loudly yelled out.

"I know all of this is just an illusion! Why don't you stop this charade and reveal yourself?!"

This illusion was incredibly life-like. Because of that, there had been some moments that he dearly wished for this thing to be his true reality. However, there was no hiding the emptiness in his heart that seemed to grow larger and larger the longer he spent inside this illusion.

That was why….

"Hurry up!!"

Jin-Woo loudly roared into the empty sky above, before finally realising that a change had taken place – that time had frozen still.

The gazes of every single ant soldier and their raised heads were directed towards him. For a moment there, he felt goosebumps break out on his skin from receiving all those mechanical stares.

It was then.

Below his feet, the Sovereign's Territory, a jet-black shadow rapidly spread out. Everything touched by that shadow all vanished without exception. Beru, the soldiers, corpses, the ground, the sea, and finally, even the sky itself.

Soon, the entire 'world' became submerged in shadow. No, everything simply transformed into darkness, instead.

Only then did a weighty, heavy voice come at him from a place within this darkness.

[As long as you want, you can live in this world for all eternity. It will be the same as you never waking from the most wonderful dream.]

Jin-Woo searched for the voice coming from an unknown direction and made his reply.

"Are you telling me to stay trapped within this illusion you have created?"

[No. I did not create this world. You are responsible for its creation.]

"I created this world?"

Jin-Woo was about to reply with "Nonsense!" but sensed something approach him. It was his rear.

He quickly spun around. Sure enough, someone was walking closer from within the impenetrable darkness.

This figure was kitted out in this exquisite black armour that no other Shadow Soldier could even hope to match. And he also emitted an utterly shocking amount of pressure that no other living being Jin-Woo ever met possessed.

He found it hard to open his mouth when he came face to face with this figure. This being spoke to him.

[This world was created when your desire to fix all the mistakes you've made so far was added to my own power. This place is the world of death. Meaning, this is my true territory.]

Jin-Woo finally realised then.

He finally realised that this dark world he was standing in had been gently and invitingly embracing him all this time.

'So, this is the eternal rest, is it….'

Death.

If so, the man who claimed this world on the other side of consciousness as his territory had to be….

Jin-Woo wanted to hear the answer straight from the man's mouth and asked the question.

"And you must be….?"

The man in the black armour slowly walked closer to Jin-Woo.

[I have been watching you for far longer than you can imagine. You, who had always been striding close to death, yet always had been resisting bitterly against it.]

'You've been…. watching me?'

Eventually, the man stood right before Jin-Woo and stared with those black eyes that seemed to suck everything in.

[I am the record of your bitter struggle. I am the evidence of your resistance. I am the reward of your pain. I am death, I am eternal rest, and I am also 'terror'.]

Every word he spoke reverberated weightily within Jin-Woo's soul.

All those memories of him struggling hard to survive despite his weakness fleeted in and out of his mind like a revolving lantern, and made his heart palpitate faster.

The figure reached down and grabbed Jin-Woo's hand and placed it on his own armoured chest.

That's when Jin-Woo's eyes widened in shock. He could definitely feel 'it' beyond the thick metal armour plate.

How could he not recognise it?

How could he not recognise the vigorous pounding of the heart that he always got to hear by concentrating just a little bit harder?

How could he not recognise the sounds of his second heart, the one where he had no clue where it was beating from?

It was the Black Heart.

The Black Heart was powerfully beating within this armoured figure's chest.

[I am….]

The figure quietly finished his words.

[….You.]

Chapter 218 Fin.

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The words of 'I am you'.

Since he had been exposed to the Black Heart, Jin-Woo could understand the meaning behind those words.

He looked to his right.

Suddenly, a massive tree the size of several dozen skyscrapers bound together rose up to pierce the heavens above.

He looked to the other side next.

When his head turned to the left, a maglev train suddenly emerged from the distant darkness and shot past his position in the blink of an eye. These two appeared out of nowhere simply because Jin-Woo wished to see them.

In other words, something was created from nothing.

[That's right.]

The Shadow Sovereign addressed him.

[Within my territory, you can do anything you want.]

"Because you and I possess the same power?"

The Shadow Sovereign nodded his head. His gaze shifted over to the giant tree Jin-Woo created. In an instant, the tree's size decreased and changed to a single little flower commonly seen everywhere.

Although this power to create and change worlds was limited to the Shadow Sovereign's territory, Jin-Woo still ended up letting out a sigh of admiration.

This omnipotent power had become his now. Jin-Woo briefly closed his eyes before opening them up, and that prompted a field of flowers to bloom before his feet and spread out in all directions.

It was the same type of flower as the one the Shadow Sovereign created by changing the tree.

Was this the result of the excellent Perception, or because he was connected to the Shadow Sovereign? Jin-Woo could sense the Sovereign feeling satisfied while looking at the field of flowers.

The Sovereign shifted his gaze over to his human counterpart.

[I have been looking forward to this moment, this meeting with you, for a very long time.]

The Shadow Sovereign officially introduced himself.

[I am the Shadow Sovereign. I am the King of the Dead, ruler of death's power, and an administrator of the deepest part of the darkness.]

Awesome, dignified presence oozed out from the Sovereign. However, Jin-Woo didn't feel scared even though true death capable of reducing any living being into a shuddering mess was right before him.

This being was him. He felt his emotions soar higher after meeting another version of himself.

Finally.

Finally, he could ask that one question stuck in his head, not wanting to let him go ever since the System became a part of his life.

"Why…. was I chosen?"

Why did the System choose him as the 'Player'? Was it because he managed to survive the dual dungeon that day?

No, it couldn't have been. He believed that there had to be another reason. And this was the moment that his question might get an answer.

[I shall show you.]

The Shadow Sovereign slowly extended his hand towards Jin-Woo's forehead. The moment that forefinger touched him, the entire world changed.

[This is our beginning and the end. And also, your beginning.]

Would there ever have been a moment in history that so many people in so many countries screamed out at the same time?

In that cruel moment when the monster's dagger penetrated Hunter Seong Jin-Woo's chest, people held their heads or screamed their lungs out. What came to visit them after the screaming was silence as heavy as blocks of steel.

Grief-stricken gasps escaped from the lips of everyone watching Hunter Seong Jin-Woo powerlessly crumble to the ground.

"Ah…"

First, it was the Special Authority-rank Hunter, Thomas Andre. And now, even Seong Jin-Woo had fallen.

If so, who else was left?

There was no one.

Knowing full well that there was no one else left to stop these monsters, the expressions of people began hardening like stone.

And then, a short while later.

– Uh? Wha-what's going on here? Uh? Uhhh??

Shortly after the cameraman cried out in panic, even the transmission got cut off.

The super-massive Gate floating above the skies of Seoul, and then, the monsters that appeared out of nowhere to continuously murder the top-ranked Hunters in the world. The viewers around the world couldn't erase the thoughts of 'Are we seeing the advent of the world's end?' out of their minds.

In the midst of all the shock and panic, people couldn't move away from the front of their screens even though the transmission had been cut off for a long time now.

The filming helicopter, now frozen solid and smoke pouring out from the side, crashed back to earth. The Sovereign of Frost withdrew its hand, having successfully destroyed the annoying flying contraption.

Its gaze shifted over to Jin-Woo next. The creature's ice-covered lips bobbed up and down to announce Jin-Woo's status.

[His life has come to an end.]

The eyes and the ears of the Sovereign of Beastly Fangs confirmed the death of his prey. It could not sense any hint of life from the subject at all.

They managed to succeed in stopping one of the most powerful kings from turning into an unwelcome variable in their plan. Their eyes were now swimming in the ecstasy of victory.

However, this wasn't the end of their work. Not yet.

The two Sovereigns raised their heads and their glares simultaneously locked onto Thomas Andre, currently evacuated a good distance away.

Lennart Niermann flinched nastily after sensing their gaze.

"D*mn it…."

He had to prepare himself to lose his life just from trying to fend off one beast-like humanoid creature, but now, there was an Ice Elf on a similar level as the beast to contend with, too….

'How did Hunter Seong Jin-Woo manage to fight against them….?'

His heart rate got faster and faster. The thing was, he was the only Hunter capable of buying even a second of time against those two monsters.

Lennart took a deep breath.

"Hey, man…. Hunter Seong's presence vanished just now. Can't you tell me what's going on?"

Thomas Andre, his wounds not even half-healed yet, threw out a question.

Lennart forced his unwilling lips to part.

"He's…."

It was then.

The two Sovereigns walking leisurely over in Lennart's direction simultaneously looked behind them.

Something impossible happened, just then. From the body of the human whose heart was confirmed to be destroyed, they could hear vigorous, pounding heartbeats.

But, how?

How could such a thing be possible?

The two Sovereigns exchanged disbelieving gazes with each other. And then, the absolute worst possibility entered their heads next. They had been overlooking this crucial fact until now.

[Can it be….?]

These two thought that, by killing the human host, they would also get to extinguish the Shadow Sovereign within, too. Just like how they themselves would die after taking over their hosts.

However, their opponent this time was the King of the Dead. There was no guarantee that death, supposed to treat everyone equally regardless of who, would be applied to him in the same manner.

The end of one could also become the beginning for someone else.

[No…! We can't let this happen!!]

They had to stop this at all costs.

They had to stop the descent of the true king via this fake death.

Their expression turned utterly pale before they reacted almost instinctively. Two Sovereigns instantly closed the distance to Jin-Woo and reached out with their long claws and ice spear.

In order to completely destroy the body that'd act as the tool of the King's descent, they poured in their entire magical energy into their weapons.

Unfortunately….

A figure hidden in 'Stealth' lightly landed on the ground before them and his shortswords blocked the claws and the ice spear quite ably.

The Shadow Sovereign hadn't regained his consciousness yet. In that case, who could this being be?

The two Sovereigns couldn't hide their shock and fluster after their desperate attacks were defended against.

The owner of the shortswords undid his Stealth and finally revealed himself. It was a figure cloaked in a hood. A pair of eyes gleaming in pure golden light were glaring at the Sovereigns from below the hood.

"From here on, none shall touch this child."

In another world.

Light and darkness existed in an age where nothing else yet existed.

The Absolute Being split the light and created the Emissaries of God. As for the darkness, it was split to create eight Sovereigns.

Heeding the command issued during their birth, the Sovereigns born to destroy worlds and the Emissaries born to maintain the worlds began killing each other's soldiers over and over again.

At the end of the lengthy war.

Fatigued by the constant and unending war, the most bright Fragment of the Brilliant Light asked the Absolute Being.

'Oh, our Absolute Ruler.

Why does thee not aid thy most faithful subjects fighting in thy honour?

Why does thee ignore thy subjects' pain?

Doth thee really not hear the screams of countless soldiers dying for thy honour?

Aid us.

Lend us the strength to extinguish our opponents. We shall cut off their heads and offer them as the tribute to thy glory.'

However, the Absolute Being didn't reply back to the Fragment.

It was at that moment the Fragments came to a realisation. And that would be the truth of the battle between themselves and the Sovereigns being nothing more than a form of entertainment to the Absolute Being. And that their Ruler didn't wish for the battles to end.

Now knowing that the war would never end as long as the Absolute Being continued to exist, the Fragments fell into despair. The despair they felt transformed into rage, and rage soon morphed into hatred.

To end this meaningless war, they unsheathed their blades.

It was the start of the rebellion.

Jin-Woo witnessed the endless march of the soldiers spanning the cosmos itself.

"Oh, my god…."

However, a group of soldiers suddenly appeared from the distance and blocked the march. The Shadow Sovereign next to Jin-Woo pointed at the Fragment of the Brilliant Light with six wings, standing in front of the blocking group.

[That was the me of the distant past.]

He was the sole Emissary of God who stood up against the rebellion of the other Emissaries. In the end, though, the pitiful number of soldiers he led powerlessly fell before the united armies of the Emissaries.

The Fragment of the Brilliant Light never lost his absolute loyalty until the end. He died watching his brave subordinates get swept away by their enemies.

He thought that this was the end.

But when he reopened his eyes within the embrace of the darkness, he came to realise that the Absolute Being had hidden a certain power inside of him.

For that eventuality when everything went wrong, the Absolute Being had hidden a truly fiendish power capable of ending everything, inside its most loyal slave.

And so, floating within this endless abyss of darkness, the Sovereign of Death had finally opened his eyes towards his power. He tore off the remaining traces of his wings, all burnt away from the battle, and crafted brand new armour out of the surrounding darkness.

[ARISE-!!]

Souls sleeping within this abyss heard the call and swore eternal allegiance to their new king.

He led his brand new army and made his return. But when he finally came back, everything was already over.

The remaining Fragments of Brilliant Light had killed the Absolute Being and called themselves the new gods, thus assuming the position of the 'Rulers'. And using various tools containing the might of the Absolute Being, they hunted down the Sovereigns.

When the King of Giants, the Sovereign of the Beginning, Reghia, was captured, the balance between the two sides collapsed and the remaining Sovereigns realised the severity of the situation.

It was at that moment that the Shadow Sovereign extended his hands to them. To combat their common enemy, every existing Sovereign combined their forces.

And in this manner, the war between seven 'Rulers' and nine 'Sovereigns' continued on, forever.

The longer this war continued on, however, the greater the army of the Shadow Sovereign grew. Time was on his side.

Thanks to his brilliant achievements, it seemed as if the victors of this long, long war would be the Sovereigns.

However, it wasn't only the Rulers fearing the might of the Shadow Army that had grown, unbeknownst to all, to equal the Army of Destruction led by the King of Berserk Dragons.

Two Sovereigns feared the Shadow Sovereign. The Two of them were the Sovereign of White Flames and the Sovereign of Beastly Fangs. They aimed for the back of the former Emissary just as the war was drawing to a close.

It was at this point that Jin-Woo got to witness again the scenes he saw within the 'saved data' back in the dual dungeon. The armies of demons and beasts joined hands with the armies of the Rulers and pounced on the Shadow Sovereign and his army.

And that resulted in him being driven to near-annihilation.

But then, the King of Beasts, the Sovereign of Beastly Fangs ran away to save its own life, while forsaking its own soldiers. Meanwhile, the King of Demons, the Sovereign of White Flames, Baran, had to pay the ultimate price.

The words Jin-Woo couldn't understand; when he heard the words of the dying Baran, his eyes shook around really hard back then.

And then, above his head – four angels with six wings slowly descended from the sky. That was where the video playback of the 'data' Jin-Woo watched came to an end.

The four Rulers soon surrounded the Shadow Sovereign, who no longer possessed enough strength to command his own Shadow Army. The Sovereign must've figured out what the inevitable result of this fight would be and discarded his sword to the ground.

But, if those Rulers had killed the Shadow Sovereign back then, how could the existence of this Shadow Sovereign even be explained?

Jin-Woo swallowed his dry saliva and paid even closer attention, to what could possibly be the end of the Shadow Sovereign.

But then….

The Rulers began kneeling before the Shadow Sovereign one by one. And a short while later, the six-winged angel kneeling in front raised his voice.

[Please, it's time that you forgive us, oh, greatest Fragment of Brilliant Light.]

Chapter 219 Fin.

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The Rulers were asking for forgiveness from the Shadow Sovereign.

They occupied an overwhelmingly advantageous position. As long as they willed it, they could have sent the Shadow Sovereign back to the empty void, yet they wished to make up with him, instead.

This was their own way of showing their respect towards a comrade, born together at the same time, as well as the greatest warrior who once stood at the forefront with his Army of Brilliant Light, in the war against the powers of the Sovereigns.

Although the Shadow Sovereign was never their leader, his comrades nevertheless respected him greatly.

And that was why they ignored the command from their leader, the 'brightest Fragment of Brilliant Light', to get rid of the Sovereign and instead chose to kneel before him.

[We no longer have any reason to fight each other.]

The enraged voice of the Shadow Sovereign resounded throughout the land next.

[What do you mean, there's no reason??!]

The Sovereign reached down and grabbed the collar of the Ruler asking for forgiveness and yanked him up by force.

[Have you not harmed my liege with your swords and spears?!]

[He was our master as well.]

[That is precisely why your crimes are even more heinous!]

The Rulers maintained a courteous attitude, even towards the enraged Shadow Sovereign.

[You know better than anyone what we felt in our hearts when we raised our banners of rebellion against our master.]

The Shadow Sovereign raised his head and discovered that the silver-clad winged soldiers had gathered around them before he had noticed it, and they were looking in his direction with worried expressions etched on their faces.

These were truly loyal soldiers.

How could he not know what they felt, watching their comrades die at the hands of their enemies? It was him who led these soldiers in countless battlefields and shed blood in honour of their master, after all.

[We only wished to end this war. That was all.]

The Sovereign's grip holding onto the Ruler's collars loosened just a tad.

[And finally, we have the opportunity to do so.]

[That's right. You can finally end this war.]

The Shadow Sovereign let go of the Ruler, picked up his discarded sword, and made the angel grip the weapon's hilt.

[Strike me down with this sword.]

And then, he looked at the other Rulers and shouted out.

[Pierce my heart with your spears! That is the end that you so desperately seek! With this act, you shall finally become the victor of this war!]

But, the sword powerlessly fell from the Ruler's grasp and clattered noisily onto the ground. No one else tried to push forward their spears against the Shadow Sovereign. Only the pleading voice came back his way.

[Please, find it in your heart to forgive us.]

Unfortunately, their earnest plea struck the Shadow Sovereign more painfully than any weapon known to man.

After he lost his subordinates, after he lost his master, and after he himself was trapped within the darkness, the only thing that motivated him to carry on were the thoughts of revenge.

The desire for vengeance helped him to endure until now.

He had led the army of the dead with the singular thought of making these Rulers pay for their transgressions.

But now, how could he continue to hate those asking for his forgiveness in order to save their own soldiers from this endless cycle of warfare?

After all, both he, fighting to protect his master, and these Rulers, who fought to keep their subordinates alive, were victims of fate's cruelty, were they not?

The truth, that these kneeling angels weren't his detestable enemies, but comrades who went through hell together, began tearing at his heart mercilessly now.

With that, the sole reason for his existence gone, the Shadow Sovereign cried out towards the others as if he was vomiting blood.

[Come! Kill me!]

Everything shall end here.

He'd rather return to the embrace of the void and rest for eternity while forgetting everything that had happened.

[Hurry!]

None of the Rulers moved an inch.

No, they remained kneeling on the ground, their heads pressed to the floor, just like how it was from the beginning.

The Shadow Sovereign raised his head up next.

That prompted all the silver-clad soldiers in the air, still remembering the greatest warrior ever to grace the heavens, to place their fists where their hearts were and lower their heads.

Although they had to fight against him because of the differing ideals, they still hadn't forgotten about their admiration towards him in their hearts and consequently, they paid their utmost respect.

The number of such soldiers utterly dominated the entire sky. And when all of them lowered their heads, the Shadow Sovereign stopped silently watching them and turned around to leave.

The Sovereign of Death left the scene just like that, and afterwards, he completely vanished without a trace. Meanwhile, the combined forces of the Sovereigns, now that their own armies had been greatly depleted by the internal conflict of the three Sovereigns, met with a resounding defeat at the hands of the Rulers.

The defeated remnants escaped to the crack between dimensions with their remaining forces. Jin-Woo watched the Sovereigns and their defeated army escaping through the enormous Gate and became utterly dumbstruck.

'The scale of the defeated remnants were that big….?!'

He couldn't even begin to imagine just how many soldiers from both sides had to be sacrificed for the sake of the Absolute Being's entertainment.

He kind of understood where these Rulers were coming from when they rebelled against their master's rule.

But, it was then.

The Shadow Sovereign that secluded himself from the worldly affairs, appeared before the other Sovereigns again.

When the Shadow Sovereign and the Sovereign of Beastly Fangs ran into each other, others became extremely tense that another violent clash might take place, but due to the intervention from the Dragon Emperor, the feared event didn't come to pass.

[Now is the time to replenish our depleted forces. I understand the history between you two, but I shan't allow a fight to take place.]

The Dragon Emperor then accepted the Shadow Sovereign back to their fold once more with open arms.

Jin-Woo swallowed his nervous saliva as he watched the Dragon Emperor in humanoid form. He was aware of the fact that the figure before his eyes was nothing more than a fragment of the Shadow Sovereign's memories, but still….

'So, this guy is the King of Berserk Dragons, the Sovereign of Destruction….'

The insane level of power oozing out from nothing more than just a glare even made Jin-Woo's teeth clatter.

Having evacuated to the crack between dimensions, the Sovereigns avoided the Rulers' detection and searched for a new world where they would nurture their army again.

Countless galaxies and planets flew past Jin-Woo's eyes. And eventually, the footage came to a stop right before a certain planet.

He unconsciously let out a gasp.

"Ah….."

It was a beautiful blue planet shining all alone within the darkness of space. It was Earth.

Through their concerted efforts over a long period of time, the Sovereigns succeeded in tunnelling a portal from the crack between dimensions, to Earth that existed in another dimension.

And thanks to the entrance of unprecedented enemies, mankind couldn't avoid the fate of being annihilated.

Jin-Woo's expression hardened as he watched the cities get reduced to smouldering rubble, as first seen inside the 'Demon's Castle' instant dungeon.

"Is this what will happen in the future?"

[No. This is a record of the past.]

Jin-Woo's eyes quaked powerfully from that unexpected answer. But, his shock could linger around only for a short while. Because the Shadow Sovereign continued on with his explanation.

[The Rulers belatedly detected the movements of the Sovereigns and sent their armies, but by then, everything had already come to an end.]

If the purpose of the Sovereigns was to destroy, then the role of the Rulers was to maintain the worlds.

Naturally, the Rulers grew angry at the fact that the thugs of the Chaos World they failed to eradicate the last time managed to bring down yet another world.

In order to right the wrong, they resorted to activating a certain tool of God that they themselves had prohibited from use.

The tool of God was called 'Chalice of Rebirth' – an item they made sure to steal first as their top priority from God's storage, just before they started their rebellion. It was an incredible item that could reverse time by around ten Earth years.

'Ten years?!'

Jin-Woo's eyes shot wide open.

Could this be pure coincidence that the number of years matched the time when Gates began generating out of thin air, and Hunters appeared to stop them?

[It is as you suspect.]

The Rulers did their best to rescue other worlds, but Earth was simply too fragile to host the battles between themselves and the Sovereigns. This planet with no magical energy couldn't endure against the mass-scale battles.

Didn't matter who won in the end between the Rulers or the Sovereigns, the result waiting for this planet remained the same. After going through several cycles of war and the destruction of the planet, the Rulers came to a drastic decision.

If saving everyone was impossible, then make sure that some would still survive and continue the life on this planet.

"If so, does that mean….?!"

[Gates are the process to create humans that would survive the collision of two forces. That's how much the Rulers wanted to guard humanity.]

Only then did Jin-Woo finally realise it.

He realised the reason why these Rulers stayed behind the scenes and quietly let the process take place without getting in touch with humanity, even if they knew that there was a calamity coming.

'Humans capable of surviving in the changed world are…..'

If humanity learned that everyone in the world would die soon with the sole exception of the small number of people referred to as Hunters, would the human societies be able to function properly ever again?

No, hang on. Jin-Woo inwardly shook his head.

He finally heard the reasons for the Gates and the Hunters after this lengthy tale. However, the one thing he really wanted to hear about, he still hadn't heard the answer yet.

As if he had read Jin-Woo's mind, the Shadow Sovereign gestured with his hands and the surroundings changed completely again.

[The higher existences, such as Rulers and Sovereigns, are able to perceive the change in the flow of time created by the tool of God.]

Even if they couldn't do anything about it, said the Sovereign afterwards.

While the Rulers busily tried to fix their mistakes several times, the Sovereigns also began modifying their plan continuously, as well.

….Until the tool of God couldn't be used anymore.

"Hold up…. Are you telling me that there's a limit to this 'Chalice of Rebirth'?"

[There are no such things as infinite power. Just as the Absolute Being capable of creating the universe was eliminated by his own creations, no power lasts forever.]

There was a hint of this tangible bitterness in his voice and that prompted Jin-Woo to turn his head towards the Shadow Sovereign before he had time to even notice it.

"I'm asking you because it was brought up first, but, how can creations kill the creator?"

[It is not too different from you dying at the wiles of the machines you have created.]

That sounded logical. Even if machines were created for the sake of humanity's convenience, they could still harm humans depending on how they were utilised. It was a similar sort of reason as to why humans feared artificial intelligence they themselves had created.

[We were created to fight, and our powers were more than enough to bring down our own master.]

Jin-Woo nodded his head.

Soon, the figures of several familiar Sovereigns appeared around Jin-Woo and the Shadow Sovereign.

[The Sovereigns had a 'light-bulb' moment from the methods employed by the Rulers.]

And that would be to copy the method of the Rulers, that lent the portions of their powers to various humans and had them kill monsters, in order to spread magic energy throughout the planet. Sovereigns would also 'borrow' the bodies of human hosts to descend on the world and bring their armies far earlier than what the Rulers had been expecting.

[They plan to use the magical energy spread around the planet by the Rulers and turn the entirety of Earth into one large trap.]

"To devour the Rulers' armies coming to aid humanity in one go…."

[That's right.]

For a Sovereign possessing incredible power to cross over into this world, it needed a host body.

Sovereigns searched for and found suitable hosts for themselves one by one.

However, only the two, the Sovereign of Destruction and the Shadow Sovereign, the possessors of two indescribably enormous powers, couldn't find human hosts with a physique that could handle their powers.

[It was around that time when the greatest wizard, working under one of the Kings, came to me with an offer. He said that he'd find me a suitable human host.]

The 'Architect'. This wizard, referred to as the Architect by the Sovereigns, promised to aid the Shadow Sovereign's descent to this world for the price of turning him into a true immortal.

Since he was already somewhat interested in the ongoings of the human world, the Shadow Sovereign agreed to this offer. Unfortunately, no human alive could handle the power of 'death'.

[The human with high sensitivity towards magic energy. The human with an overwhelmingly superior physical condition. The human with amazing mental faculty. All of them couldn't handle my power and either became mentally crippled or died.]

No living lifeform could become a vessel for death itself.

The contract with a Sovereign – this act possessed a meaning on a whole different realm compared to other types of promises. Obviously, the Architect became rather anxious as time ticked by.

While the Architect was sweating buckets trying to locate suitable candidates, the Shadow Sovereign actually went ahead and found himself a potential host first.

Jin-Woo raised his head.

As if there were hundreds of monitors displaying all sorts of varied and colourful images of him, his past self doing various things appeared in all directions.

[I saw you. You, who always accompanies death so closely yet still desperately escapes from its grasp every time.]

He had been working as a Hunter for four years.

Jin-Woo was ranked E. Not only that, at the bottom of the lowest rank, too. Yet, despite experiencing the life-threatening dangers of dungeons every day, he didn't stop entering them. It was all for the sake of his mother and his little sister.

He sacrificed himself for his family and desperately struggled on. The records of the past four years were all preserved in their entirety within the Shadow Sovereign's memories.

[The Architect opposed it, but I still chose you.]

The Shadow Sovereign was now pointing at Jin-Woo, and seeing that unwavering finger, he felt his heart race faster and faster.

The Sovereign did say it before, didn't he?

– I am the record of your bitter struggle. I am the evidence of your resistance. I am the reward of your pain.

Those words weren't describing Jin-Woo's life after he had become a 'Player'. No, it was about his life before he got to enjoy the benefit of the System. Every one of those words rang weightily within his chest once more.

[The anxious Architect agreed to carry out my wish, and in the end, he lured you into his grand plan.]

The dual dungeon, the test of his survival, and then, the 'Player'.

All of these were part of the plan of the Architect to create a suitable vessel for the Shadow Sovereign.

[As your world continued to repeat itself, the Architect got to observe humans closely. And he created a system based on what humans enjoyed playing and were also good at, in order for you to adapt to my great powers.]

What humans enjoyed playing and were also good at, he said.

Jin-Woo knew right away what that thing was as soon as he heard the Sovereign. It was none other than video games.

Here was the reason why the System designed to manage the 'Player' possessed such a similar layout to a video game.

And Jin-Woo was the lone successful case among all the test subjects.

[The System the Architect created by borrowing my power slowly changed your physique step-by-step to better suit me.]

"But then, you betrayed the Architect, didn't you?"

Jin-Woo recalled the sight of the angel statue jumping up and down in fury while busily crying out that the other Sovereigns had been deceived back inside the second dual dungeon.

The puzzling thing was, why did the Shadow Sovereign deceive the one he was in contract with, and choose Jin-Woo, instead?

He simply had to ask for clarification here.

"But, why?"

For the first time ever, the Shadow Sovereign hesitated. He looked to be agonising over something, and Jin-Woo didn't press him for an immediate answer.

Eventually, the Sovereign opened his mouth again.

[Because… I wanted to.]

Compared to how lengthy his deliberation was, that answer was way too simple. Strangely enough, Jin-Woo couldn't hold back his chuckle, though.

[Perhaps, I enjoyed the time I spent with you far too much and didn't want to lose 'you'.]

Rather than erasing Jin-Woo's ego and taking over his body, the Shadow Sovereign had chosen to assimilate with him, instead. Meaning, he chose to become a part of him.

And the end result was….

The Sovereign slowly raised his hands and grasped the sides of the helm covering his head, lifting it up slowly. And, as the face hidden beneath it was finally revealed, Jin-Woo's eyes gradually widened.

It was his own face.

The Shadow Sovereign possessed the exact same face as him.

But, was that all?

Jin-Woo's gaze dropped back down to himself only to discover that the surrounding darkness had wrapped around him to form new armour.

The appearance of the armour was exactly the same as that of the Shadow Sovereign. It was as if they were looking at their mirror reflections and they continued to gaze at each other.

[I have become you, and you have become me.]

'I am you.'

That was the undeniable truth, with not an ounce of falsehood within.

[It won't matter who gets to control our body, whether it's me or you.]

Because… they were the same person now.

[And that is why… I shall give you the opportunity. Now, choose.]

The Shadow Sovereign raised his left hand and all those faces Jin-Woo missed seeing appeared one after another.

[You can enjoy eternal rest inside this beautiful dream you have created within the territory of death.]

First, it was the face of the gently-laughing Association President Goh Gun-Hui, followed by his young-looking mother well before she collapsed from the illness. And finally, even the scene of his much younger self that existed within the time now long forgotten, drew up in the darkened surroundings.

[However, if you don't want that….]

The Shadow Sovereign lowered his left hand raised the right one, instead. In an instant, all those faces disappeared, only to be replaced by a humongous Dragon flying in from the darkened sky high above. And then, an army entirely consisting of countless Dragons following after it to incinerate every city they could find.

[….You shall return to reality and fight them.]

Jin-Woo stared at the Army of Destruction led by the Dragon Emperor with a hardened face before making his reply.

No, he asked a question, instead.

"Why did you run away to another world with the other Sovereigns when you had no desire to fight against the Rulers?"

[Because… there was no place for me to remain anymore.]

The Shadow Sovereign was a Ruler and at the same time, a Sovereign. And he couldn't find the place he could call home with either group. That was why he chose to wander in other worlds he was not originally a part of, hoping to find his place.

Hearing the Sovereign's answer, Jin-Woo finally made his decision.

"My answer is the same."

An imperceptible smile had already floated up on the Sovereign's face even before Jin-Woo made his reply.

"This is not where I belong."

[….Very good.]

The Shadow Sovereign nodded, saying, [That's why I chose you.]

"Does this mean I won't ever get to see you again?"

[I shall be taking my eternal rest. And as the new Shadow Sovereign, you shall live an eternal life. Surely, there won't be a reason why we have to meet again.]

Despite saying those words, there was the look of a relieved man on the Sovereign's face. Finally, the time of rest had come after an eternity of waiting.

Jin-Woo watched the Sovereign genuinely feeling happy for himself and bade his last goodbye.

"I want to thank you for giving me this opportunity."

For a brief moment there, a look of wistful longing brushed past the Sovereign's expression before disappearing altogether.

[With your death, your powers have become complete. As for how to return, its….]

Jin-Woo stopped him there.

"I know."

Because… I am you.

A smile floated up on the Shadow Sovereign's face as the time of departure drew near. After a long, long journey, he had reached a place he could rest now.

The Sovereign addressed Jin-Woo.

[This is our farewell.]

He took a step back and wordlessly stared at Jin-Woo nodding his head.

Two words that would allow him to be reborn as the perfect Shadow Sovereign left his lips in a low, hushed voice.

"Rise up."

Chapter 220 Fin.

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The System's familiar female voice rang in his head the moment Jin-Woo uttered 'Rise up.'

['Rise up.']

['Player' Nurturing System delete code has been entered.]

[The System will now be deleted.]

Jin-Woo was now bestowed with the true power of the Shadow Sovereign, which meant that the System was now rendered irrelevant to him. So, it began deleting itself.

He felt as if he was saying goodbye to a nanny that looked after him since his childhood. He then suddenly thought of a question and asked the Shadow Sovereign.

"How did you include the female voice in the System?"

[….That's actually the architect's voice.]

The Sovereign was a bit dumbstruck by Jin-Woo's sudden question, but eventually, added more explanation.

[That creature was from a hermaphrodite race. It's possible for them to produce both male and female voices.]

He often wondered who the owner of that clear and cool voice was every time it accompanied the System messages, but to think, it was the same dude all along.

Feeling a bit sheepish, Jin-Woo averted his gaze, prompting the Shadow Sovereign to chuckle under his breath.

"Kuk, kuk."

'I also enjoyed watching that part of you, too.'

This man was indeed worth betraying the architect's promise, even though trust was one of the most important things for the Sovereign. A small hint of sorrow briefly flashed past his eyes.

In the meantime, the System continued on with deleting itself step by step.

[All limitations imposed on the power 'Player' possesses has been lifted.]

[With the removal of the limitations, every Shadow Soldier of 'Marshal' grade enjoying the authority of the Sovereign will regain all of their original powers.]

[Marshal grade soldier Igrit's powers have been restored in full.]

[Marshal grade soldier Beru's Stats have been enhanced greatly.]

[The former Shadow Sovereign, 'Osborne', is returning to the world of eternal void.]

Jin-Woo silently listened to the messages before raising his head. He found the Shadow Sovereign, despite facing his own end, staring back at him with serene eyes.

Jin-Woo was able to understand all the pain and suffering the Sovereign had gone through because of the memories of the distant past shown to him within death's territory. His goodbyes were, therefore, genuine and heartfelt.

'Goodbye, my king.

I pray that you find the peaceful rest you dearly wished for so long in the land of eternal sleep.'

Finally, even the System message signifying farewell popped up.

[Will you really delete all System and System-related functions?]

Two icons of 'YES' and 'NO' blinked in the empty air.

Jin-Woo shifted his gaze, one last time, to the Shadow Sovereign. Even until the end, the former angel hadn't lost that content smile of his.

Because, that would be the lasting image engraved in his heart, after all.

That was why Jin-Woo also smiled back.

With a smile, he issued his final input to the System.

"Yes."

RUMBLE!!

A powerful wind pressure being generated at the same time with an explosion of light forced back the Sovereign of Beastly Fangs and the Sovereign of Frost. The former regained its posture first, its brows quivering.

[A Fragment of the Brilliant Light….?]

The body of the robe-wearing enemy was now burning in golden flames. That light was the symbol of the Rulers.

This b*stard was, without a doubt, a human that borrowed their powers. However, why were the Rulers aiding one of the most powerful Sovereigns out there, the Shadow Sovereign?

The Sovereign of Frost cried out.

[The worst calamity imaginable is approaching us through the body of the human you're trying to protect! Are you planning to bring the apocalypse to this world by your own hands??]

The man wearing the robe didn't even bother to reply. No, instead of an answer, he simply brought up both of his shortswords near his chin, clearly getting into a stance to fight. That was as good a sign as any of his intent.

The Sovereign of Frost's expression hardened after confirming this man's decision once more.

Its current opponent had borrowed the powers of the Rulers and activated Spiritual Body Manifestation. But, a human's body couldn't withstand a god's power.

Unlike with the Sovereigns who had completely taken over the host's body and ego, the one borrowing the Ruler's power would soon crumble into dust and disappear.

'Even then…. He'll risk dying just to aid in the Shadow Sovereign's revival?? Just what are the Ruler b*stards scheming now…?!'

The Sovereign of Frost looked at the Sovereign of Beastly Fangs. They exchanged suspicious gazes. There was no time. The beast-like man, the Sovereign of Beastly Fangs, nodded its head.

Instantly, the two Sovereigns split left and right to approach the robe-wearing man from both sides, before raining down a ceaseless barrage of attacks.

The claws of a beast and the spear made of ice tried to tear into the robe-wearing man countless times, but as if he was well versed in combat, he easily countered and repelled all incoming attacks with expert movements.

He would let the ice spear slip past him or block against the claws, but never forgot to throw out his counterattacks every now and then, as well.

This was the action of a warrior that survived a nonsensical number of battlefields throughout his life. A truly troublesome opponent, in other words. An enemy possessing great strength and technique disregarded his own life to block the advance of the two Sovereigns.

BOOM-!!

The robe-wearing man blocked the weapons that carried incredible amounts of magical energy belonging to two Sovereigns, and then, shoved them away once more.

The Sovereigns landed some distance away, correctly judging that it would be quite difficult to get a desirable result in time, at this rate.

Tap, tap.

As if the robe-wearing man had no purpose other than protecting the vessel of the Shadow Sovereign, he only stood his ground and didn't chase after the Sovereigns.

[….Just what is your true identity?!]

The Sovereign of Frost was left dismayed and puzzled, but the robe-wearing man remained silent as usual.

It was then.

The Sovereign of Beastly Fangs suddenly reverted from its Werewolf appearance back to its human form and spoke up.

[I'm done with this.]

The sharp fangs peeking out of its lips went back inside, and its long claws also changed back to those of regular person's nails. As it turned around to leave, the Sovereign of Frost hurriedly cried out to stop its comrade.

[We've come this far, yet you wish to leave now?! Are you insane!!]

[Can't you sense it?]

The Sovereign of Beastly Fangs shook its head.

It possessed sensory perception far exceeding the norm and after picking up on the subtly-changing atmosphere, its body shuddered ever so slightly.

[The surrounding Mana has begun crying out. Soon, the Shadow Sovereign will arrive.]

The gaze of the Sovereign of Beastly Fangs went up to the sky before shifting back to the Sovereign of Frost.

[I'm taking my leave.]

[But, you promised to attack the Shadow Sovereign with me, did you not?!]

Veins bulged on the neck of the clearly-agitated ancient Ice Elf. Too bad, the Sovereign of Beastly Fangs remained rather collected in its reply.

[My promise was only applicable when the vessel remained a human. However, the real thing is about to come, so there's no more reason for me to stick to our promise.]

[Even then, how can a King of all beasts run away with his tail between his legs?!]

The Sovereign of Beastly Fangs was triggered by those words and it angrily grabbed the collars of the ancient Ice Elf.

[You can't understand me because you've never tasted the true power of the Shadow Sovereign, oh, Sovereign of Frost!!]

Back then, the Sovereign of Beastly Fangs got to witness the depths of the Shadow Sovereign's powers when he faced off and survived against six huge armies consisting of the beast army, demonic army belonging to the White Flames, and lastly, the armies of the four Rulers.

Such a monster was about to show up here, so who cared about one's dignity in such a situation? It was fine if others ridiculed the Sovereign for hiding behind the Dragon Emperor. It'd do anything if it meant surviving until the end.

It made the correct call to abandon its former comrade, the King of Demons, the Sovereign of White Flames, and to escape from the battlefield back then.

And now, it was not daring to risk encountering the real deal while trying to kill the Shadow Sovereign's vessel.

The Sovereign of Beastly Fangs was the King of Beasts, whose power was founded upon the abundant life force of the surrounding creatures. And the power of death, capable of eating into that life force, was the most fearful and frightening thing in the universe.

Indeed, there was no time to waste its breath here. It sensed the terror of death approaching ever closer with every passing second, and quickly released the collars of the ancient Ice Elf to generate its personal Gate.

[I shall pray for your fortune.]

With that departing words, the beast quickly stepped into the Gate.

The Sovereign of Frost clicked its tongue unhappily as it watched the Gate gradually shrink before completely disappearing from the view.

[What a foolish b*stard.]

How could a fool that runs away in fear, even when there was a nearly dead prey right before its eyes, be deserving of the title of the Chaos World's best hunter?

The Sovereign of Frost's thoughts remained the same as before – the Shadow Sovereign had to die, no matter what. And the prey was as good as tip-toeing on the precipice's edge. Nothing would change just because a hindrance suddenly showed up.

Indeed, there was no reason to borrow the hand of a coward. Deciding such, the Sovereign of Frost activated its own Spiritual Body Manifestation.

Although its stamina would greatly be consumed by maintaining this form, as this wasn't the world it originally belonged to, there was a need to get the result as soon as possible before the Shadow Sovereign really made his appearance.

[Taste the terror of the bitter frost, you weakling!]

The Sovereign of Frost transformed into a gigantic ice storm that instantly covered up the land. The violently thrashing blizzard slammed into everywhere!

After morphing into an actual storm, the Sovereign of Frost coldly glared at the robe-wearing man below and roared out like a thunderclap.

[This is my true power!!]

Tens of thousands of ice spears created out of crystallised Mana in the air began raining down like falling snow. Each spear carried enough power to kill a person in one shot. That was how extremely terrifying this attack was.

Cars still remaining in the roads were swept away like worthless toys and buildings were torn apart by the blade-like winds. However, the robe-wearing man didn't even budge from his spot and protected Jin-Woo behind him with all his being.

Countless wounds began appearing on the man facing off against the endless barrage of ice spear blizzard. The Sovereign of Frost didn't let up with its attacks, not even for a second.

[My soldiers!]

From the snow that had piled up to one's knees, ice humanoids created from the magical energy rose up one by one. And soon, they numbered nearly several thousand!

[Attack.]

The ice humanoids heard the command of their Sovereign and pounced simultaneously at the robe-wearing man. He desperately resisted against these humanoids by slicing them and shoving them away.

Unfortunately….

Stab!

He was struck on the shoulder by an ice spear and wobbled unsteadily on his feet.

Even in the midst of this, the ice humanoids were still rushing at him relentlessly. The man forcefully strengthened his legs and gritted his teeth.

The mysterious man tenaciously hung on, and the Sovereign of Frost decided to once more enter the fray itself. It transformed into a crystallised form of sheer coldness and, while emitting white smoke from its entire body, it gallantly strode over to the man.

[Get out of the way!!]

Its loud roar prompted the ice humanoids to quickly scatter. The Sovereign of Frost stood before the man and opened its maw real wide.

Incredibly cold energy began gathering within its mouth next.

The air began freezing up. Ice even formed on the chin of the man visible underneath the hood.

At this rate, things would get very dangerous. The robe-wearing man understood this. However, if he tried to evade this attack, it'd hit Jin-Woo still lying on the ground head-on.

The man displayed no hints of evading even when facing off against the horrifying murderous intent oozing out from the Sovereign of Frost.

The facial expression of the Ice Elf crumpled unsightly.

'A measly human simply borrowing the powers of a higher being through sheer luck dares to form such an insolent face at me!'

Finally, the horrifying aura of coldness was fired out from the mouth of one very enraged Sovereign.

KUWAAAHH-!!

The man crossed his arms in an 'X' to defend against the blast of cold air. Rather obviously, his arms had to bear the brunt of blocking the entire attack and they became frozen in an instant, unable to move again.

And then, truly vicious attacks continued on the man now unable to offer any resistance.

Pow! Pow!! Pow!!! Pow!!!!

Every time the Sovereign of Frost smacked the man, his upper torso visibly staggered. However, he never took a step back, not even once. Blood trickled down his legs and formed a pool beneath his feet, but he continued to endure.

[How dare a measly little human….?!]

The Sovereign of Frost tilted its shoulder and raised up its right arm up very high. In an instant, cold air gathered around the arm and transformed into a gigantic ice block.

'Now, let's see if you can withstand this!'

The Sovereign of Frost was planning to not only crush the man, but the vessel of the Shadow Sovereign lying behind him, too. It roused up its entire magical energy to slam down the block of ice.

Vuuu-woong!!

The man watched the shadow of the falling ice block grow ever larger and raised both of his frozen arms above. Even if his arms shattered, even if his body was crushed, he must protect Jin-Woo.

He dragged out every ounce of power granted to him by the Ruler and his body glowed in the most brilliant golden radiance.

And finally…

BOOOOM-!!

…There was a collision.

Strangely enough, although there was a collision, he didn't feel any impact force from it at all.

'What is….?'

The man opened his closed eyes and discovered someone else standing before him.

This figure was kitted out in jet-black armour. And then, there was the blood-red mane extending from the top of its helm all the way down to its back.

It was none other than the faithful servant of the Shadow Sovereign, Igrit. He defended against the massive block of ice before roughly shoving it away.

The Sovereign of Frost had to doubt its own eyes after that attack was perfectly defended against.

[Igrit?!]

If the Marshal-grade Shadow Soldier made his appearance, then that could only mean….!

The ancient ice Elf flinched nastily in surprise and hurriedly shifted its gaze to the spot behind the robe-wearing man. Sure enough, the unconscious man who should've been lying there could no longer be found anymore.

Finally…

Finally, the Sovereign of Frost understood what the Sovereign of Beastly Fangs had said before running away.

The atmosphere itself was trembling. Mana, the magical energy densely packed in the air, was resonating with the entrance of a transcendent existence.

Igrit turned around and politely knelt down and lowered his head.

Kiiieeehhk!!

Beru, having appeared alongside Igrit, screeched out loudly as if to announce the return of his master, and quickly knelt down while facing the same direction.

And between the two, Jin-Woo calmly walked out.

He took a sweeping look around the messily destroyed surroundings and threw a question at the Sovereign of Frost.

"Did the beast run away?"

Only after facing off against the true Shadow Sovereign did the ancient Ice Elf realise the reason why the King of Beasts made its hasty, scared escape earlier.

Even though it was the Sovereign of all things existing within the cold, it was still trembling pitifully before the lord of death standing before it.

Jin-Woo continued on.

"….I didn't permit it."

The Sovereign of Frost couldn't understand what he meant and reflexively asked back.

[What was that??]

"I didn't give my permission for it to run away."

[What are you even on about…?]

Jin-Woo didn't even give the ancient Ice Elf enough time to get flustered and simply closed his eyes. He rapidly expanded his sensory perception to his surroundings in search of the unique magic energy signature belonging to the Sovereign of Beastly Fangs.

The range of his perception exceeded past the border of South Korea in an instant and enveloped the whole planet.

He was deeply confident that, as long as the Sovereign of Beastly Fangs didn't escape to the gap between dimensions and remained hidden somewhere on Earth, he'd located that b*stard no problem.

And his confidence was not proven to be baseless.

Jin-Woo smiled refreshingly and opened his eyes after discovering the presence of the Sovereign of Beastly Fangs.

"Found you."

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Chapter 222: Chapter 222

While Jin-Woo had his eyes closed to focus all of his attention on searching for the escaped beast, the Sovereign of Frost had intuitively sensed it. It was an opening left by the Shadow Sovereign.

Such an opportunity would not come around a second time. Even if there was a huge gap in individual strength, how dare he take his eyes off his enemy?

Avoiding death would be impossible if this chance was left ungrasped.

It was facing unavoidable death right now. In order to struggle free from the shadow of death taking large strides towards itself, the Sovereign of Frost decided to bet everything on one final move.

'I must end everything with this one hit.'

Its right arm slipped behind its back and Mana began gathering there in a large lump. It then proceeded to create the most powerful spear of ice it had ever created.

Every ounce of energy dragged up by the desperation it felt would be contained within this attack!

A terrifying amount of magical energy was being forcibly concentrated on the ice spear. The power gathered was so great that the ground beneath the Sovereign wielding the spear froze up in pure white while issuing cracking noises.

Just before one would be tempted to wonder whether the Sovereign's right arm grasping the spear had expanded far too much or not…

The spear was fired out with the velocity of a bullet and tore straight through the air.

Whoooosh-!!

At the same time, the ice humanoids received orders from their master and pounced on Jin-Woo like a nest of enraged fire ants.

Whoooosh-!

Moments before the spear aiming at his forehead could penetrate into his face…

….Jin-Woo opened his eyes.

"Found you."

Simultaneously, the time flow of the surroundings came to a standstill as if the 'pause' button had been pressed on the playback. No, actually, the time had slowed down to such an extent that it almost looked as if it had come to a standstill.

The ice spear's shaft spinning at a scarcely-believable speed was definitely getting closer, albeit only an inch at a time. And behind that, he could see the Sovereign of Frost's rather deeply distorted face glaring in his direction.

Was that all, though?

He even could see the faces of every single ice humanoid surrounding him from all sides pouncing on him.

This was the scope of the Shadow Sovereign's vision once he got ready for battle. His ability to perceive that had reached the realm that no other human being could ever hope to touch upon, and made it as if everything around him had come to a dead stop.

Jin-Woo was like an alien invading the world of a paused video and relaxedly scanned his surroundings.

This feeling…

'Haven't I felt something similar to this before….?'

When could that have been?

He slowly combed through his memories and eventually recalled that moment when he was about to die from the assaults of the stone statues.

Indeed.

Back then, time had come to a standstill as if everything had been paused, too.

'Ah, so I had already possessed the power of the Shadow Sovereign in me, even then.'

Only now that he got to unlock the full powers did he realise once more just how long the Sovereign had been watching him. Jin-Woo continued to check out his vicinity and soon, discovered the backs of his two Marshal grade soldiers.

'Ohhh….'

Even though the time had seemingly frozen, both Beru and Igrit were moving in to intercept the enemies, albeit very slowly. This was as good evidence as any that their agility had reached an incredible height now.

Jin-Woo studied them in happiness before remembering that there was a spear coming his way.

'Oopsie.'

Like an insect studiously crawling forward, the spear was continuously closing the distance bit by bit. To stop the weapon's advance, Jin-Woo used one of his powers.

'Ruler's Authority.'

This was one of the Shadow Sovereign's powers, although he trained on using it proficiently while thinking that it was merely a skill.

The moment he activated 'Ruler's Authority', he got to see the Mana dispersed throughout the surroundings suddenly rush in and wrap about the ice spear.

Once caught in the magical energy, the weapon lost all forward momentum and stopped in its treks.

He got to see for the first time how the skill 'Ruler's Authority' worked and he couldn't help but softly sigh in admiration.

'Ah, so it was not an invisible hand or some such.'

No, it was more like 'invisible Mana'. Simply put, Mana moved according to the will of the skill's activator. Jin-Woo's eyes could capture the movement of Mana so clearly now, when it was impossible to do so in the past.

'Nice.'

Now that his sensory perception had reached the peak, he could definitely pick up on the flow of Mana surrounding his vicinity. As he observed its flow, his eyes sparkled brightly.

This was the end result of the Rulers trying so hard to fortify this world. A world once devoid of Mana was now overflowing with it. And as the inheritor of the Shadow Sovereign's powers, he was given the right to freely wield this energy with nothing but his will.

Ba-thump, ba-thump.

His heart raced faster as he sensed the surrounding Mana breathe.

'….Let's do this.'

Jin-Woo broke past the slowly-moving time and approached his two Marshals before resting his hands on their shoulders.

"There's no need for you guys to step up here."

Beru and Igrit heeded their master's order and immediately stopped moving. Jin-Woo stood before them.

He'd now maximise his control of Mana that he trained whenever he had the time through 'Ruler's Authority'. He took a sweeping look at the ice humanoids and deeply breathed in and out once.

The emotion still filling his chest was the gratitude towards the Shadow Sovereign welling up from deep inside his heart. Also, gratitude for teaching him how to control his powers through the System's guidance.

Jin-Woo was done focusing on himself and controlled the Mana in the air at once. In that blink-of-an-eye moment, the space around him tumbled.

Wooo-woung-!

It truly was for just a moment.

In an instant, a powerful wave of Mana, starting from Jin-Woo as its centre, crashed out and swept away the huge masses of ice humanoids trying to pounce on him.

The Sovereign of Frost also detected the violent storm of Mana rushing at it.

It hurriedly spread out an ice barrier to protect itself.

Once the violent winds of Mana went past, the Sovereign quickly undid the barrier and it was greeted by the sight of debris, belonging to the ice humanoids, scattered everywhere. The powerful pulse of Mana had destroyed them all. Even the blizzard storm clouds it had summoned were gone, too.

This was the power of Shadow Sovereign.

[But… but how!!]

The Sovereign of Frost shivered from shock after witnessing the true power of the Shadow Sovereign, formerly the greatest Fragment of the Brilliant Light, as well as one of the most powerful Kings in existence.

The wall.

The completely insurmountable wall.

Didn't the gap between it and him seem far too great?!

Jin-Woo took a look around himself and nodded his head at the rather satisfying result before locking his gaze with the frightened eyes of the ancient Ice Elf.

Flinch!

He could sense that creature shivering even at a distance away.

He still had a score to settle with that thing. Jin-Woo recalled the face of the late Association President Goh Gun-Hui and his expression became colder in an instant. However, he wasn't the type to expose his emotions that easily.

The enemy he wanted to kill the most would be disposed of at the very end. He'd make sure that the opponent would get to enjoy enough time to shiver in terror from the unavoidable death.

Jin-Woo raised his voice.

"You shall be the last."

Suddenly, Jin-Woo's figure slowly submerged into the shadow beneath his feet.

"Until I go and catch that beast, you stay and quietly wait, okay?"

As soon as the TV's broadcast got cut off, the Association President Woo Jin-Cheol slammed his fist down on the desk.

Bang!

The final scene before the live footage got cut off was the one of Hunter Seong Jin-Woo powerlessly crumbling to the ground after getting struck by those two monsters.

Watching that scene play out, Woo Jin-Cheol felt as if his whole world had come crashing down. If only this desk wasn't an item that Goh Gun-Hui had used, he'd completely smash it into pieces with one punch.

Woo Jin-Cheol's clenched fist trembled greatly.

All the other subordinate employees present within the President's office and watching the broadcast with him shut their mouths up as well. Heavy silence permeated in the office now.

However….

The Association President Woo Jin-Cheol knew better than anyone that he shouldn't be wasting time here like this. He quickly threw out a question.

"How many Guilds are on site now??"

"All five major Guilds have arrived on site, sir."

Woo Jin-Cheol stood up from his seat and urgently issued his new order.

"Our Monitoring Division will go, as well. And I'll accompany them, too."

"But, it'll be far too dangerous, sir!"

"You think being dangerous or safe is important in our current situation?!"

Woo Jin-Cheol shot a scary glare, immediately rendering those employees trying to persuade him not to go utterly speechless.

The Republic of Korea had just lost its final line of defence, Seong Jin-Woo. Meaning, there was no more room to retreat. Every Hunter had to cooperate to kill those monsters, otherwise, there would be no future left for anyone anymore.

Woo Jin-Cheol hurriedly put on his jacket before raising his head to spot the real-time footage being transmitted from the CCTV camera, currently shown live, right next to the giant TV screen.

This camera was pointing to the sky 24 hours a day. It continuously streamed the sight of the super-massive Gate floating above the skies of Seoul. Woo Jin-Cheol's eyes staring at the screen trembled for a moment then.

'Perhaps….'

Perhaps, the nation of Korea was already doomed.

His heart tumbled to the pit of his stomach. Even if they got lucky and were able to kill those monsters, they would suffer grave casualties. Could they be able to deal with that nonsensically humongous Gate with the remaining Hunters, no, more accurately, without the presence of Hunter Seong Jin-Woo?

Just from thinking about the monsters in the city centre and then the super-massive Gate in a row, the despair he so desperately tried to deny rushed in like a tidal wave.

However, Woo Jin-Cheol forcibly shook his head.

Even if tens, hundreds of thousands, no, the entire population of Korea thought the same as he did, someone still had to step up and fight. The powers Hunters possessed were precisely for that purpose.

Woo Jin-Cheol gritted his teeth to shake off all unnecessary thoughts from his head. He was about to step outside his office when one of the employees hurriedly called out to him.

"Sir!!"

Woo Jin-Cheol looked behind him. Not at the employee calling out to him, no, but at the large TV screen with the news anchor urgently speaking to the viewers.

[Everyone, one of our cameras have finally reached the site!]

Maybe the camera was positioned on a rooftop of a high-rise building, because the scene now on screen was being filmed from a great distance away. But, that alone was enough.

The blizzard covering up the city was being dispersed by some kind of an unseen force.

Feeling rather agitated now, the Association President Woo Jin-Cheol brushed past all the employees that had stood up from their seats and rushed to the front of the giant screen.

Once the icy fog was blown away, it became possible to see clearly the figures standing on the street.

There were five people. No, make that four people, plus one creature.

Among them, the man standing before a certain ant soldier was someone Woo Jin-Cheol was quite familiar with.

"It's Hunter Seong Jin-Woo!!"

Woo Jin-Cheol shouted out unbeknownst to even himself. Other employees saw the shattered remains of the ice humanoids strewn about around Jin-Woo and roared out in elation.

Waaaah-ah!!

Not only was Jin-Woo, who looked to be dead for sure, standing upright completely fine, he even seemed to have pushed his enemy into a corner as well, so how could they hold back their cries now?

Indeed, tears even threatened to break out of Woo Jin-Cheol's eyes.

There was only one enemy now; the sole creature of ice seemed to be terrified out of its skull, because it was completely rooted to its spot, unable to even move an inch.

No one could tell just what transpired within that blizzard, but the situation had done a complete 180 now.

He didn't need to hear it, but Woo Jin-Cheol knew that the attention of the entire world was focused on this very same footage being broadcast.

Just with what method would Hunter Seong demolish that monster now? The Association President Woo Jin-Cheol's face was quickly filled up with anticipation as he watched Jin-Woo.

But then….

Jin-Woo seemed to be saying something to the monster, before he began submerging below his feet and disappearing from the site.

The expressions on the employees hugging each other to celebrate gradually hardened.

Eventually…

….Jin-Woo completely vanished from the battlefield.

The cameraman must be panicking as well, as the camera kept moving this way and that in order to locate Jin-Woo. Unfortunately, not even his hair could be seen now.

"Huh….."

Woo Jin-Cheol couldn't hide his fluster and rubbed his mouth. Yet another bout of heavy silence descended on the office of the Association President.

After returning to the hideout located in a jungle somewhere, the Sovereign of Beastly Fangs' teeth began clattering.

That aura of death gradually tightening around its neck. What a regretful thing it was, wasting time arguing with the Sovereign of Frost and delaying its escape from that place.

Back when it was out hunting Brazil's greatest Hunter, Earth was nothing more than a hunting ground filled with weak prey. The beast had been drunk on the feelings of freedom after leaving behind the dreary, boring gap between dimensions where there was practically nothing fun to do.

But now…

Who'd have thought that the Shadow Sovereign had descended to this world with a malicious plan up his sleeve? Unless they were talking about the human masquerading as the King of the Dead, fine, but the beast definitely didn't want to fight against the real Shadow Sovereign.

If one wanted to stop that guy, then one needed power far exceeding him. One needed the Sovereign of Destruction.

'Now that things have turned out this way, I have no choice but to hide here and quietly wait until the Dragon Emperor shows up….'

The beast lied down on the bed made out of leaves and branches.

When it did, several wild beasts of the Chaos World, referred to as monsters by humans, gathered around and laid down around the Sovereign's feet.

These wild beasts possessing powerful magical energy were none other than the Sovereign's royal guard. They purred and rubbed their faces when their King began stroking them.

But then, the Sovereign sensed something was off and stopped stroking the heads of its pets in his comfy reclined position.

'Mm….??'

The furs on the pets had all stood upright.

The sixth sense possessed by all animals; the inexplicable sensation travelling down the back of its neck caused all sorts of goosebumps to break out on the Sovereign's body.

It wordlessly shifted its gaze over to the same spot where the nervous beasts were glaring at, before its own eyes narrowed down to a slit. The shade of a tree several steps away was wavering noticeably, that was why.

The voice thickly laden with despair leaked out from the mouth of the Sovereign of Beastly Fangs after picking up the scent of death quickly permeating into its hideout.

"Could it be….?"

Chapter 222 Fin.

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The beast's eyes opened wider. 'Something' was slowly rising up from that wavering shade of a tree.

'Is that the human…?'

Or, was it the real Shadow Sovereign?

It couldn't quite figure out the true identity of its opponent yet. However, the presence of the enemy all five senses of the beast had picked up were identical to that of the man who drove it to the edge of the cliff all those years ago.

Didn't matter what his identity was, this man now possessed the perfect, complete power of the Shadow Sovereign.

'He chased after me all the way to here?!'

The terror of death seemingly had invaded deep into the beast's bone marrows, and as a result, the creature trembled greatly in pure fear.

And when Jin-Woo's entire frame completely emerged back into the world…

Growl….

One of the savage beasts bared its fangs to threaten Jin-Woo in order to protect its master before quickly dashing forward. This monster, although outwardly feline in appearance, possessed three red eyes. It was also known to be one of the most vicious creatures even in the Chaos World.

Roar!!

The monster opened its jaw wide to reveal dozens of knife-like fangs that coldly reflected the light.

Jin-Woo disinterestedly stared at the predator dashing towards him. It seemed to possess as much magic energy as a boss from a rank S dungeon. If it was in the past, even he'd have to pay attention, but now, it didn't pose any threat whatsoever.

But before that…

Boom!

Even before he could decide on what to do next, the savage beast suddenly lost its head and its four limbs sagged down to the ground.

The culprit was none other than the Sovereign of Beastly Fangs. It leapt in an instant and destroyed the savage beast's head. Then, it quickly extracted its fist stuck deeply to the ground.

'Why did he kill his own soldier…?'

When Jin-Woo stared at it with puzzled eyes, the Sovereign of Beastly Fangs got low to the floor and bowed its head. And then, words spoken with a trembling voice leaked out from its mouth now facing the ground.

[Oh, Shadow Sovereign, this King of Beasts does not wish to enter into a conflict with you. I pray that you forgive this one's transgressions and accept me as your ally.]

This was the instinct of an animal in full display. When facing against an opponent that couldn't be beaten and also, escaping from it was impossible, then one should bow one's head.

The beast's instincts were quite strongly recommending this course of action. Since the Sovereign of Beastly Fangs possessed the characteristics of a wild animal, it readily discarded its dignity and pride to stay loyal to the demands made by its instincts.

[Not too long from now, the Dragon Emperor will lead his army to descend on this land. During that time, my beast army and I shall aid you in your quest.]

The beast had assumed the most subservient posture it could.

Whimper… Whimper…..

The savage beasts behind the Sovereign were all frozen stiff in their terror and had sprung a leak, wetting the ground with their p*ss.

To these wild, untamed creatures that lived for their own continued survival, the aura of death walking ever closer was the most terrifying thing imaginable.

Jin-Woo briefly observed the King of the Beasts and its lowered tail before coming up with a reply.

"Fine."

The Sovereign of Beastly Fangs was feeling really nervous, but upon hearing that easy answer, it began smiling inwardly. And that smile soon crept up on its face directed to the floor, as well.

What a foolish man!

'That b*stard is not the real thing.'

The real Shadow Sovereign would never forgive the one who had betrayed him once before, and not to forget, someone who tried to eliminate the vessel prepared for his descent to this world.

Thanks to this human's kindness and stupidity, the beast was able to buy some time.

How could it obey this man's words when this human, no, this prey was busy emitting a delectable scent mixed in among that of the real Shadow Sovereign's?

Indeed, all it had to do was to pretend as if it was on the Shadow Sovereign's side and wait until the Sovereign of Destruction's arrival.

'When the time comes, I shall personally rip your corpse apart and gnaw on your bones.'

So, how could the beast not break out in smiles right now? With a bright face, the Sovereign of Beastly Fangs raised its head again.

[I swear my loyalty to…..]

As it did, it ran straight into the chilling glare, as cold as ice, and leapt back greatly from sheer fright. As a matter of fact, the level of fright it felt was so great that it had leapt back dozens of metres in one go.

Jin-Woo coldly addressed the beast and its pale complexion.

"Before we do that, though, we should settle our debt first."

The beast squeezed out some words with a hardened expression.

[Debt? Could you be talking about the past….??]

In the past, the Sovereigns of White Flames and Beastly Fangs tried to stab the Shadow Sovereign in the back. Jin-Woo had seen that treachery through the recollection of the former Shadow Sovereign. However, that had no relevance to what Jin-Woo was about to do right now.

From the subspace that the System designated as 'Inventory', he extracted one Kamish's Wrath.

Shururuk….

While grasping the blade tightly with one hand, Jin-Woo pointed to five spots in his chest with his thumb on the free hand.

"Five wounds where claws have pierced past."

The horrifying pain from that moment was still vivid in Jin-Woo's mind.

"Withstand five attacks from me, and I shall forgive you."

That was the same thing as telling the beast to survive five fatal attacks.

It was at this point that the beast finally realised that Jin-Woo never planned to let it go from the beginning. The Sovereign of Beastly Fangs roared out in a final show of its pride.

[You dare…!! How dare you toy with me, the King of Beasts!!]

The Sovereign of Beastly Fangs activated Spiritual Body Manifestation and rapidly transformed into a gigantic wolf. Although, it was incomparably smaller than the one from the Shadow Sovereign's memories, perhaps owing to the fact that this wasn't the creature's original world. Still, the King of Beasts wielded enough power to destroy this world and then some.

Now thoroughly enraged, the giant wolf loudly howled at the Shadow Sovereign.

[My life will end here today, but you too will not live for long!]

Whoosh-!

It was right then, a strand of chilling wind brushed past the face of the huge wolf. Searching for the presence of Jin-Woo that had simply vanished from its view, the creature quickly took a look behind.

And that's where he was, having moved there before the wolf had noticed it. He slowly turned around to face the monster.

"The first hit."

The wolf then saw it.

It saw the horrifying black aura rising up from Jin-Woo's entire body. This guy, he wasn't the fake. His movements completely matched that of the Shadow Sovereign.

Gulp.

Unbeknownst to itself, the wolf swallowed back its dry saliva.

But, then….

With an audible 'plop', something fell to the ground.

For a moment there, the wolf forgot what kind of a monster was standing before its eyes and lowered its gaze. What fell to the ground was a huge ear.

The wolf's ear, cut off from its head, now lay on the ground next to its own feet like a hideous item of gore. And then, blood exploded out like a fountain. What visited after all of that was intolerably cruel pain.

The wolf gritted its teeth and raised its head back up and discovered that Jin-Woo was holding yet another shortsword.

One weapon in each of his hands.

Jin-Woo held the pair of 'Kamish's Wraths' oozing out black aura and delivered his final judgement on the giant wolf.

"Four more left."

Literally, enemies on all sides.

After Jin-Woo disappeared from the scene, the Sovereign of Frost was left stuck in a rock and a hard place. It'd be logical to escape if there was no chance of victory. But then, the gaze of the ancient Ice Elf landed on the two Marshal-grade soldiers belonging to the Shadow Sovereign.

'Forgetting about the ant b*stard busy treating that human puppet of the Rulers, this….'

The remaining one was a huge problem.

It was none other than Igrit, also referred to as one of the two wings of the Shadow Army, who was keeping a close eye on the Sovereign right now.

This black knight's nickname was the 'Knight of Death'. He was the greatest knight there ever was, accompanying the Shadow Sovereign to participate in many battlefields and killing countless enemies in the process.

One of the opponents that needed to be kept an eye out for was standing right in front of the Ice Elf.

'But then again….'

The ancient creature was not some measly little soldier, but a Sovereign. If it fought with everything it had, then bringing down two Marshal-grade soldiers wouldn't be difficult at all.

No, the real problem was with these two possessing immortality-like abilities. They would continue to regenerate infinitely until the Shadow Sovereign ran out of his power.

This was really bad news, considering that the Sovereign of Frost had to waste a lot of its stamina by activating its Spiritual Body Manifestation.

On top of that, if it decided to attack these two soldiers, then their master would be alerted to its actions. All Shadow Soldiers were connected to the Shadow Sovereign. Even if one succeeded in defeating the Marshal-grade soldiers, that would only serve to summon their master over here.

That had to be prevented at all cost.

'That's why….'

The Sovereign of Frost spun around in order to quickly generate a Gate to facilitate its escape.

Swish-!

But then, Igrit appeared out of nowhere to block the escape attempt. He slowly shook his head and lightly tapped the hilt of the sword sheathed on his waist.

'Don't do anything foolish.'

Even without saying anything, his words came across loud and clear.

Swish-!

The Sovereign of Frost quickly swivelled its head around and discovered the ant standing on the other side, his maw wide open to screech out loudly.

"Kiiiieeeehhk-!!"

The meaning of this particular ant standing here, when he should have been healing the arms of that human….

….The gaze of the Sovereign of Frost shifted over to its front and caught the sight of the saboteur, now completely healed, walking in closer.

[These b*stards….!]

The Ice Elf shuddered in rage as the enemies surrounded it once more.

[Mere b*stards like you dare to….!!]

The angry voice of the furious King rocked the ground. The world began freezing again, and the storm clouds gathered up in the sky.

[How long do you think you lot will last against me?!]

Igrit unsheathed his sword, Beru's claws extended in full, while the robe-wearing man held his shortswords tightly.

However, the event of these four colliding didn't happen.

The first one to sense the change was, once more, the Sovereign of Frost.

When its gaze hurriedly shifted over to a certain direction, others followed suit as if they had a prior agreement. The shadow there was rippling noticeably.

The Sovereign of Frost needed just a little bit more time, that was all. It bit its lower lip in vexation.

[Shadow Sovereign!!!]

In a spot of ground a bit of distance away, Jin-Woo emerged from the shadow.

'This is so convenient, not being restricted by the cooldown now that the System is gone.'

All restrictions on his abilities had been unshackled. That allowed him to return to this spot in an instant. Jin-Woo shifted his gaze over to the Sovereign of Frost over yonder.

He then lightly threw something in his hand in the direction of the Ice Elf. The Sovereign caught that object drawing an arc in the air, before its eyes trembled greatly from shock.

[Isn't this….?!]

It was an ear belonging to a giant wolf.

The Sovereign only knew of one wolf large enough have an ear this big.

[It's only been a few minutes since you left, yet you already killed the Sovereign of Beastly Fangs?!]

The Sovereign of Frost cried out in sheer panic, but Jin-Woo didn't even bother to make his reply. He simply summoned his two shortswords like how he had done with the beast earlier, instead.

On the blades crafted out of the Dragon's teeth was the still-fresh blood from the Sovereign of Beastly Fangs.

The ancient Ice Elf flinched greatly as the hostile intention from a truly powerful individual locked down on it. The two Marshal-grade soldiers and the robe-wearing man confirmed the black aura rising up from Jin-Woo's shoulders and quickly retreated to the rear.

Jin-Woo gripped the hilts of the two weapons tightly. He had already given this creature enough time. And now, he was going to collect the debt.

The Sovereign of Plague, the Sovereign of Beastly Fangs, and now, the Sovereign of Frost. The deaths of these three would serve as Jin-Woo's warning to other Sovereigns.

The Ice Elf watched as Jin-Woo dashed forward as if he was gliding on a smooth surface and urgently fired out multiple arrows of ice in a last-ditch attempt.

[You b*stard!!]

Of course, these arrows of magic were still fatal if struck, even though they were created in a hurry. Countless arrows, each one too powerful even for a rank S Hunter to survive, shot towards Jin-Woo in droves.

Dudududududududu!!!!

The Sovereign of Frost did everything in its power to prevent Jin-Woo from getting any closer.

[Uwaaaah-!!]

Too bad, Jin-Woo's hands were quicker than those arrows raining down. He swatted away all the ice arrows aiming at him and yet, his dashing speed hadn't decreased at all.

[Uwaaaaaaaah-!!!!]

Dududududududududu!!!!

Ice arrows were generated and fired out from the front of the personification of the frost, their numbers too innumerable to count, yet…

….Yet, Jin-Woo was able to break through their barrage and stand before his target.

Stab!

Jin-Woo accurately drove the Kamish's Wrath into the shoulder of the Sovereign of Frost – on the exact same spot where the dagger had struck in the past. He did that to remind the creature about the late Association President Goh Gun-Hui.

[Kuwaaahhk-!!]

Suffering from the pain on an incomparable scale than the last time, the Sovereign of Frost's head rose up high as it screamed at the top of its lungs.

Before the second shortsword could strike it, though, the Ice Elf hurriedly gathered the cold air in its mouth and fired it out. Jin-Woo reached up and simply covered its mouth.

Kuwaaaahh!!

Just as the cold blast of air unable to break free of his hand went on a rampage inside the Elf, Jin-Woo reverse gripped his other shortsword and stabbed it deep into his opponent's chest.

CRACK!!

He heard the sounds of its ribs breaking and its heart being penetrated cleanly. It was the exact same attack that he suffered not too long ago.

[Kuwaaaahahhhk-!!]

However, Jin-Woo knew that such an attack wouldn't be able to kill the Sovereign of Frost, since he had prior experience of killing two other Sovereigns.

"The beast died on the fourth attack."

The chilling light shone coldly in Jin-Woo's eyes.

"How long will you be able to endure?"

Terror filled up the eyes of the Sovereign of Frost as it looked down at Jin-Woo.

This man was the Sovereign of Death.

Weren't those eyes the exact same as the merciless warrior that slew all the enemies he came across in an endless battlefield?

Only now did the Ice Elf realise just who it offended, and began shuddering from the crippling fear.

Shortly afterwards, the shortsword stabbing into the creature's heart sliced down lower and tore the Sovereign's body into a rag.

[Kuwaahk!!!]

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Was there any other time in history that the whole world cheered on with one voice?

Jin-Woo vanished and then reappeared again shortly afterwards only to stab his shortsword into the chest of that Sovereign of Frost. It was precisely at that moment that everyone watching punched the air with both of their fists and roared out in elation, as if they all had been waiting for this chance.

Waaaaaaah-!!

They all despaired in the false knowledge that humanity's greatest Hunter had died at the hands of monsters, so that spectacle proved to be the best gift imaginable to them.

Some passionately chanted Jin-Woo's name out loudly.

Some began shedding tears.

Some tried to console those shedding tears.

And they watched together as a lone Hunter from Asia took care of the monster that threatened all of mankind.

Indeed, all of mankind.

The moment the Special Authority-rank Hunter Thomas Andre fell, and one of the top-ranked Hunters in the world, Lennart Niermann, tried to step up in his stead, these monsters had become far greater than the calamity of South Korea.

No, the situation had transformed into a grave crisis that directly impacted everyone else's lives.

After all these years, people still hadn't forgotten about the terror of watching the Dragon 'Kamish' swallowing up American cities, one after another.

No one alive wanted a repeat of that horrifying event. And that's why every viewer, from all corners of the globe, went so wild at Jin-Woo's victory.

It was as if they were trying to wash away the frustration and fear they felt while watching the best Hunters in the world continue to fall.

Waaaaaaah-!!!

Every time Jin-Woo attacked the Sovereign of Frost, the viewers roared out again and again.

And finally.

When that monster with seriously tenacious vitality finally toppled over and turned into grey-coloured ash before scattering away, the roaring cheers of the viewers reached their absolute peak.

Waaaaaaaahhhh-!!!!

Their combined roars rocked their respective cities.

Anchors tasked with relaying the breaking news were also shouting out at the top of their lungs, no longer caring whether the cameras were filming or not.

– Breaking news, just in!! We have learnt that Hunter Thomas Andre, previously thought to be fatally wounded, is still alive and he's…..

– Ambulances have arrived on location just in time to take the victims to the nearest hospitals!!

– Those monsters that massacred the citizens are no longer moving! They all turned into ash and nothing remains of them now!

Breaking news pieces announcing the end of the battle continued to stream out of their TVs, but….

Seong Jin-Woo! Seong Jin-Woo! Seong Jin-Woo!!!

….But, the excitement and elation of the people showed no signs of dying down at all.

And then, there was this one man. There was this one particular man who was perhaps far more elated than anyone else on this planet. And that was none other than the current Association President, Woo Jin-Cheol.

His gaze was firmly fixed to the TV screen, even though he was surrounded by his fellow employees of the Association busily bear-hugging each other and cheering out in pure happiness.

He had discovered something from the live feed and his eyes trembled greatly.

'Could it have been….?'

He hurriedly yanked his smartphone out and, with trembling hands, he searched for and played a certain video clip saved on his device.

He had watched this footage so, so many times. It was the footage of the late Association President Goh Gun-Hui being murdered, taken by the CCTV cameras inside the President's office.

There was an unknown man captured in the footage.

That man appeared and disappeared too quickly within this grainy footage, so Woo Jin-Cheol couldn't be sure, but now that he took a second look, didn't this mysterious creature look almost like the monster that Hunter Seong Jin-Woo had killed just now?

Even the scenes of the frozen floor rapidly melting away were an exact match.

'In that case….!!'

Only then did he realise just what kind of enemies Jin-Woo had been fighting until now. It was the murderer of the late Association President.

And then, Woo Jin-Cheol recalled the conversation he shared with Jin-Woo back when the latter came to pay his respects to the late Goh Gun-Hui. A powerful jolt travelled down his entire body.

["Thank you. Thank you for being there for the final moments of the Association President."]

["….I'll kill that b*stard."]

["Excuse me?"]

["The monster that murdered the Association President. I'll definitely hunt it down. You can save your thanks until then."]

Hunter Seong Jin-Woo hadn't forgotten about that day's promise. And now, the monster responsible was dead. By his hands.

Woo Jin-Cheol's nose became reddened and he raised his eyes, now wet with thick tears, to look at the TV screen. The camera was zooming into Hunter Seong Jin-Woo's face, looking somewhat tired now.

Woo Jin-Cheol could more or less understand what that expression signified. From somewhere deep within, a powerful emotion welled up uncontrollably. From here onwards, the late Association President should be able to rest in peace.

Woo Jin-Cheol recalled the memories of Goh Gun-Hui, a man he greatly respected, and inwardly muttered his gratitude towards Jin-Woo.

'…..Thank you very much, Hunter-nim.'

The Sovereign of Frost reverted back to humanoid figure after its Spiritual Body Manifestation had been undone. It slowly turned into the grey-coloured ash.

The debt of the late Association President Goh Gun-Hui, as well his own, both of them had been settled in full now. Jin-Woo coldly looked at the Sovereign of Frost scattering away before turning around.

The two Marshal-grade soldiers waiting in the distance until the end of that foolish Sovereign's punishment approached Jin-Woo.

Even though he had now completely regained his original power, Igrit still maintained his reserved personality and he politely paid his courtesy to his master. However, quite unlike him….

"Ohhh, my kiiiinggg!!"

….Beru expressed his unreserved joy of being able to see his master again with his entire being.

Jin-Woo lightly tapped the big ant soldier and his two tearful eyes on the shoulder before taking a sweeping a look around his vicinity. There should have been one more person here. That man wearing the tattered robe was nowhere to be seen, though.

"Just who was that man, anyway?"

Beru was far too moved by his own emotions to reply properly, so Igrit answered Jin-Woo's puzzled inquiry.

"While you lost your consciousness, he protected you with all of his being, my liege."

Jin-Woo was taken by great surprise after hearing Igrit's thick, manly voice for the first time, ever. But that lasted for only a short while. He formed a puzzled expression again.

"He protected me?"

"Yes, that is correct."

Unlike Beru, Igrit was probably not that familiar with human languages, so they were currently conversing in what was referred to as 'monster language', which was actually the common tongue of the Chaos World.

However, there was no problem understanding each other at all.

In any case – did that mean a man he had never seen before was protecting him?

Jin-Woo had been having a QA session with Igrit in the common tongue of the Chaos World, as if he was a native there, before abruptly discovering something and walking over to it.

It was a certain item that had fallen to the ground.

'Isn't this….?!'

As he picked this item up, his eyes trembled rather imperceptibly.

The robe-wearing man sought shelter behind the exterior wall of a half-destroyed building and plopped down to the ground while pulling his hood back.

His hair and beard covering his face were unkempt and messy as if he had never bothered to trim them at all.

He was Seong Il-Hwan. And he was leaning against the wall while spitting out heavy, laboured breathing.

"Hah-ah, hah-ah."

He then raised his left hand that had lost all feeling now.

Sure enough, his hand changed its colour to grey and was slowly disintegrating into dust from the tip of his fingers. This was the inevitable result of accepting the powers of a god with the body of a mere human.

However, even though he was experiencing unimaginable pain, he still formed a satisfied expression.

"It's done…."

With this power, he managed to protect Jin-Woo. Now that his son had completely inherited the powers of the Shadow Sovereign, Jin-Woo would prove to be a great asset to humanity.

That's why it was done now.

Seol Il-Hwan stopped looking at his gradually-disappearing hand and powerlessly leaned his head against the wall to close his eyes.

The Rulers had entrusted their powers to him and asked him to stop the Shadow Sovereign. He had been helplessly trapped within the gap between dimensions after the Gate closed up and thus was left with not much of a choice.

As a proxy of the Rulers, and as their emissary, he returned to Earth with an important mission to accomplish.

Unfortunately, Seong Il-Hwan couldn't carry his mission out.

Even though he knew that the worst calamity in human history was hiding within that boy's flesh, how could a parent kill his own child?

All he could do was to observe Jin-Woo from a place just out of his detection.

And as he continued to delay his mission, the opinions of the Rulers that had been focused on stopping the advent of the Shadow Sovereign gradually began changing.

And eventually….

'The Brightest Fragment of Brilliant Light' sent him a brand new mission.

[Protect the Shadow Sovereign.]

The Rulers had finally realised that they needed the Shadow Sovereign possessing his full powers if they were to stop other Sovereigns and their nefarious scheme.

There was no one else besides the Shadow Sovereign on Earth that could defend against the Dragon Emperor and its Army of Destruction before the soldiers of heaven could arrive later.

It was a huge gamble, considering that no one knew whether the Shadow Sovereign would side with mankind, or with the other Sovereigns.

And the result came out pretty quickly.

Jin-Woo remained on the side of humanity, and the Shadow Sovereign approved that choice.

The newly-reborn Shadow Sovereign was, simply put, Jin-Woo himself.

It was worth risking Seong Il-Hwan's life in order to protect his son, in other words.

Although it was unfortunate that he couldn't even say a simple hello to his son he hadn't seen in ten years, no one alive was qualified to take a child's parent away twice. Even if that person just so happened to be said parent.

So, quietly disappearing like this was in Jin-Woo's best interest. Seong Il-Hwan looked down at his body slowly disintegrating into ash and consoled himself as such.

It was then. He heard the familiar footsteps from nearby.

Seol Il-Hwan hurriedly got up and used his still-mobile right hand to pull the hood back and hid his face.

A certain someone stood before him, then.

He didn't even have to take a look to know just who it was standing before him like this. It was Jin-Woo.

Even though here was the son whose name he so wanted to call out to, he still resolutely brushed past Jin-Woo's side while hiding his face with the hood.

However, Jin-Woo turned towards the departing man and asked.

"Did you honestly think I wouldn't have noticed it if you went away like this?"

Halt.

Seong Il-Hwan's steps came to a halt.

But, how….?

He turned around towards his son, only to spot a certain item thrown by Jin-Woo slowly flying at in an arc towards him.

Grab.

What Jin-Woo returned was a shortsword. It was Seong Il-Hwan's own shortsword that he ended up dropping after his left hand became useless.

He stared at the weapon for a moment or two, before raising his head. Jin-Woo was staring back at him with reproachful eyes.

Jin-Woo could still remember quite clearly that particular shortsword.

When he was a young boy, he got found out while playing around with his father's shortsword and received a scolding worth remembering.

Only now did Jin-Woo consciously realise why his own weapons had been set as shortswords when the previous Shadow Sovereign swept through the battlefields with a longsword, instead.

It was all because of the memories he had of his father.

Influenced in part by his memories, the dungeons generated by the System ended up presenting Jin-Woo with daggers and shortswords as his main weapons all this time.

His hushed voice continued on.

"Are you going to leave again without saying anything, Dad?"

'Dad'.

That one word dug deeply into Seong Il-Hwan's heart and he had to remove his hood.

His right hand was slowly turning into ash as well.

His son flinched greatly after realising the state of his hands, but Seong Il-Hwan formed a thin smile as his reply and spoke.

"I didn't want to show you this sight."

Jin-Woo understood that a body turning into ash after exhausting all lifeforce couldn't be saved no matter what. He hurriedly tried to get closer, but Seong Il-Hwan raised his right hand to stop his son.

His left arm had scattered away in dust and only his shoulder remained by then.

Jin-Woo hesitated, before remaining in his spot, and asked his father.

"Then, what about you, Dad?"

"Didn't you want to see me again? Dad?"

Surely, he could still use his right hand for the time being, so how come…

Jin-Woo's question caused Seong Il-Hwan's raised arm to slowly go back down.

"I wanted to see you. Always."

….To the extent that, even if you couldn't see me, I still felt happy from the fact that I could see you from far away.

Jin-Woo finally came closer to his father until he stood right before his face. Seong Il-Hwan reached up with his remaining hand to gently touch his son's face.

Thick tears falling from the boy's eyes wetted the back of his hand.

'This foolish father wasn't able to do anything for you, yet despite that, you have….'

"….Grown up so well."

Jin-Woo opened his mouth.

"Is this the Rulers' doing? Are they throwing you away after using you?"

A scary amount of rage could be felt in Jin-Woo's voice now.

Seong Il-Hwan shook his head, though.

"They only gave me an opportunity to make a choice. I chose to protect you, that is all. And that choice was not wrong."

And now, even his remaining right hand was turning into ash and scattering away.

"I wouldn't have minded talking to you for a little bit longer, but…."

And he wanted to stay here for a little bit longer, too….

He had done something reprehensible.

He ended up making a boy say goodbye to his father not once, but twice now. He tried so hard to hold back, but in the end, tears began flooding out from Seong Il-Hwan's eyes.

"I'm sorry for not being a good father to you."

Those were his last words.

Shururuk….

Seong Il-Hwan's body, all his lifeforce exhausted from fighting against the Sovereigns, turned to ash. Jin-Woo hurriedly tried to embrace his father's body slowly crumbling away, but….

What remained in his palms wasn't a person, but grey-coloured powder.

Eventually.

In the spot where Seong Il-Hwan once stood, nothing remained.

Something from deep inside angrily welled up in an uncontrollable burst. Jin-Woo couldn't hold it back anymore and in the end, raised his head towards the sky and roared out loudly.

"Uwaaaaaah-!!!"

When he did, the Mana in the atmosphere reverberated.

The sky, the air, the ground – they all cried.

And soon, Jin-Woo's mouth began emitting the heavy, grave voice similar to other Sovereigns.

[Hear me, remaining Sovereigns!!!]

If all these events were set in motion simply because the Sovereigns decided to settle on Earth, then….

Then, I shall make them pay an unforgettable price for that.

I shall definitely make it so.

His voice infused with Mana was carried in the airflow and spread out to the rest of the world.

[You shall all pay for today's events, without exception!]

The roar of the enraged Shadow Sovereign shook around both the heaven and earth.

[Are you listening, Sovereigns?!]

On this day, one human who inherited an unparalleled power decided where his abilities should be used on his own accord.

This was the moment that the true opening curtains of the war had gone up.

Chapter 224 Fin.

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Should this be called good fortune?

Jin-Woo's voice could be heard all around the world, but he wasn't speaking in the language of humans. The majority of people thought it was some kind of thunder rumbling in the sky. Theories on why everyone heard the exact same noise were quite varied, though.

However, such a matter didn't pose a single problem, since the world was still celebrating – and felt relieved by – Jin-Woo's victory.

It was the same story in the actual battle location.

Hunters had been nervously on standby in a location just a bit away from where the battle took place. When they heard that the monster had been taken care of, they couldn't hold back and roared out in elation.

The two men in charge of the two best local Guilds, Choi Jong-In and Baek Yun-Ho, also spat out sighs of relief and looked at each other with wide grins.

"Hey, Chairman Baek. I thought your complexion wasn't so good a few minutes ago. I wonder if you have settled down now?"

"Representative Choi, I think you need to wipe your cold sweat first before worrying about someone else."

"I have a spare 'cheongsimhwan' on me, so if your heart is still fluttering badly, you can always ask me for one." (TL note at the end)

"Aigoo~. You sweated so much. Why don't you use this handkerchief to wipe your face first?"

The Masters of two Guilds that competed for the top spot in the local ranking started a rather pointy war of nerves. However, they could joke around in this manner only because the situation had been resolved now. Actually, these two couldn't even swallow their saliva out of sheer nervousness until only a few minutes ago.

But, that was understandable.

Weren't they being thrust into a battle against monsters powerful enough to treat Special Authority-rank Hunter, Thomas Andre, like a toy?

Not only their lives, but even those of every single Guild member were at risk. And the two Guild Masters, as well as every Hunter, summoned here under the emergency call-up were all thinking of the exact same thing.

That would be: if Hunter Seong Jin-Woo lost here, then it'd be no different than them all dying today.

Now freed from the intense pressure, these two men could express their happiness under the banner of waging a war of nerves.

The smiling Baek Yun-Ho sharing banter with Choi Jong-In looked beyond the latter's shoulder and his gaze stopped moving then.

"Uh….."

Choi Jong-In also followed after that line of sight and looked behind him. There was a lone man walking out from the centre of the ruined city.

Jin-Woo, having concluded his battle with the Sovereigns, quietly walked towards where everyone was.

Other Hunters discovered him one by one. His entrance immediately brought a bout of silence upon this place, once populated by loud cheers and happy yells.

The only noise coming from the surroundings were the wails of sirens, from the ambulances hurriedly arriving on the scene.

'It's Hunter Seong Jin-Woo.'

'That man, he….'

The mood in this place had become oppressed by the sharp aura oozing out of Jin-Woo's eyes, even though it was clear that the battle had ended in his favour. Not one person dared to open their mouths after seeing him like that.

The battle he fought had to have been incredibly intense because there was a hint of shimmering heat rising up from his shoulders even now.

But, why did the following events unfold as they did?

When Baek Yun-Ho met Jin-Woo's gaze, the former sent his greeting with a bow. That was the beginning; as if they were saluting a soldier coming home after a very dangerous mission, Hunters all bowed their heads in Jin-Woo's direction one by one.

Pure respect.

How could they not feel a sense of respect for a fellow Hunter capable of fighting on that level?

They all expressed their genuine gratitude and paid their respects, not because someone told them to, or because they were mindful of the surroundings.

Jin-Woo observed their show of respect, and….

….He walked wordlessly past them towards the spot where the familiar-looking van had been parked.

Thomas Andre was about to be loaded into an ambulance and Lennart Niermann was guarding his side. Both men watched Jin-Woo's departing back.

Lennart spoke with a worried face.

"Hunter Seong Jin-Woo didn't look so happy."

Thomas had received emergency treatment by the Healers and his condition had improved by a lot, so he could at least nod his head to express agreement.

"Yeah, he does look that way."

"But, how come? He managed to beat those powerful monsters and survive."

Only other Hunters would know what a Hunter was going through. That feeling of sucking in the outside air after clearing a high-difficulty dungeon couldn't adequately be described in mere words.

So, why was Hunter Seong's expression so gloomy like that?

Lennart's question was answered by Thomas, actually.

"He probably isn't happy with how the fight against those b*stards went down."

Lennart was deeply shocked by that reply.

Jin-Woo had displayed movements that had far surpassed the limits of a human being, yet he looked gloomy because he wasn't happy with his performance?

How could such a thing even make sense?

As if he knew what his German counterpart was thinking of, Thomas Andre nodded his head and continued on.

"I also can't believe it, but…. Most likely, during the fight itself, he must've felt disappointed by how many close shaves he had to experience."

'Aah, back then.'

Lennart recalled the moments when Jin-Woo's chest was stabbed by the claws of the beast and let a low gasp escape from his mouth. Also, he remembered his own vision darkening in despair the moment when that ancient Ice Elf stabbed Jin-Woo with a dagger, too.

However, didn't that happen because the enemies were simply too powerful? Never mind taking on both of them at the same time, how many people in this world could last as long as he did when fighting just one of them?

Lennart's thoughts reached up to there and he shook his head.

'No, that's not it….'

For sure, the thoughts of being defeated because the enemies were tough belonged to regular Hunters, such as himself.

Maybe, 'winning' was a matter of course for a bigshot possessing strength like Hunter Seong Jin-Woo, and they probably focused more on how they won their battles, instead.

Now that his train of thoughts arrived here, Lennart felt a chill crept down his spine next. As he stood there in shock, Thomas added one last thing.

"He's one really scary dude, that Seong Jin-Woo."

"…..I completely agree with you on that one."

After Thomas finished his deduction, he got taken to the hospital. During the ride, though…

'I made the right decision not to throw a tantrum inside his office back then.'

….Lennart was busy telling himself never to become Hunter Seong Jin-Woo's enemy.

Screeeech-!!

Ah-Jin Guild's 'Bonggo' came to a screeching halt, and a young man in the driver's seat climbed out from the vehicle.

Yu Jin-Ho saw Jin-Woo getting beaten up by the monsters on TV and jumped into the van to rush to the battle location without any concrete plan.

And even though his sensory perception hadn't been as enhanced as those of the higher-ranked Awakened, he immediately spotted Jin-Woo among the sea of Hunters populating the location and tearfully ran to his destination.

"Hyung-niiiiiiim-!!"

Jin-Woo watched Yu Jin-Ho running towards him with a flood of tears gushing out of the boy's eyes, and the murderous anger oozing out of his own eyes softened just a tad.

Meanwhile, Yu Jin-Ho used the momentum of the running to tightly hug Jin-Woo. Now, normally, the latter would find dealing with this a bit annoying so he'd step aside like flowing water, but today was different.

Jin-Woo simply chose to gently pat Yu Jin-Ho's back as the boy clung onto him and cried his eyes out. It was as if the warmth he felt from someone genuinely worrying about him managed to slowly melt his frosty heart.

Maybe, it wasn't Yu Jin-Ho who needed consoling, but he himself? A thin smile formed on Jin-Woo's lips.

Yu Jin-Ho finally managed to calm down and lifted his messy tear-and-snot smeared face away to ask a question.

"Hyung-nim, are you alright??"

"No, I'm not alright."

"EHH??"

Yu Jin-Ho jumped up in sheer shock, his eyes opening wider. Jin-Woo then wordlessly pointed to his shirt, now deeply stained by tears and snot.

"Heok!!"

Yu Jin-Ho hurriedly used his sleeves to wipe his eyes and nose before lowering his head.

"I'm really sorry, hyung-nim. I was so happy to see you unhurt, so, like…."

Jin-Woo chuckled softly.

This kid, back then or now, he was one hell of a character, that's for sure. But then, he was now a true 'dongsaeng' with a quicker wit than anyone when it came to Jin-Woo's matters.

Yu Jin-Ho did his best to suck in his tears and spoke with a bright face.

"Hyung-nim, I knew this might happen, so I prepared a new set of clothes you can change into."

"New clothes??"

Jin-Woo took a look at himself. And he clearly saw the messed-up state of his clothing from top to bottom after going through the intense battle against the Sovereigns.

"Well, if you return home looking like that… I'm sure your mother would be very worried, right? That's why I got you some new clothes to change into."

'Huh.'

When Jin-Woo looked at him with praising eyes, Yu Jin-Ho wiped the bottom of his nose and tried to hide how happy he was.

"Let's go, hyung-nim. Allow me to drive you back home."

Jin-Woo thought about that for a minute, before nodding his head.

'Mom and Jin-Ah must've been watching the TV as well, so I should prioritise putting their minds at ease before doing anything else.'

While Yu Jin-Ho was climbing up into the driver's side, Jin-Woo turned around and took one last look at the centre of the city, the place where a life-or-death battle had taken place not too long ago.

Many people had rushed in there to take control of the situation, and he could see them doing their best to do their jobs.

Jin-Woo had gained quite handsomely out of that rubble.

'First of all… I guess I should also prioritise finding a device that allows me to communicate even in the middle of that forest.'

He couldn't repeat a mistake like this one ever again.

The biggest gain for today had to be 'these', though. Jin-Woo looked at the pair of shortswords his father had left behind. It was as if there was a hint of a person's warmth remaining in their hilts.

'Dad….'

As Jin-Woo remained still in his spot, he could Yu Jin-Ho's cautious voice floating towards him.

"Hyung-nim?"

Jin-Woo lightly kissed the hilts of the daggers and stored them in the sub-space before belatedly climbing into the passenger's seat.

"Okay, let's go."

"Yes, hyung-nim!!"

The long, long day was drawing to a close.

In the end, the Hunter's Association had to announce the identities of the monsters that appeared in Seoul as 'Unknown'.

However, there was no doubt about the scale of devastation those creatures left behind being truly enormous. Countless people either died or were gravely injured; the number of collapsed buildings or destroyed cars were too numerous to count.

However, not everything could be seen as a loss.

Should one call this case a blessing in disguise?

What happened was, they found a way to deal with an unexpected danger.

Especially so for Hunter Seong Jin-Woo's incredible power that he displayed to the world during his fight – it managed to change the mindset of the world's denizens in one breath.

And that changed mindset was immediately put to action. The symptom of this change, however, started off from a country that no one quite expected it to happen from.

That evening.

To discuss the handling of the aftermaths of the monsters appearing in Seoul, as well as the potential responses against the super-massive Gate, the current Association President Woo Jin-Cheol paid a visit to the Blue House.

With topic at hand being what it was, President Kim welcomed him rather courteously. After sharing a brief greeting, Woo Jin-Cheol asked his question first.

"Shouldn't it be better for you to evacuate to the outskirts of Seoul, sir?"

The president of the nation hesitated with his answer, his expression looking complicated before he spat out a long sigh.

"I admit that I treated you rather badly the last time. I'd like to apologise to you about that. However, I implore you not to look at me as a man who had forgotten what responsibilities he has to shoulder. May I remind you, I am still the president of this nation."

He continued on, although he carried the face of a man experiencing fear, yet at the same time, trying to overcome it.

"If I run away without saying anything, how badly will the citizens be shaken up? I do not wish to see my name being recorded as a blemish on our nation's history."

Woo Jin-Cheol thought of President Kim as yet another career politician who was only interested in raking in more votes, but having heard this rather unexpected reply, could only let a wry chuckle out of his mouth.

One could accuse that as being a disrespectful gesture but, as he had already committed a transgression against Woo Jin-Cheol, the country's president didn't raise any objections.

"Alright."

Woo Jin-Cheol pulled out the prepared data and got ready to get going with his presentation. But then, an employee working in the Blue House hurriedly entered the office and whispered something into the president's ear.

"What?? Are you being serious?!"

The president responded by shooting up from his seat with a disbelieving face. The employee replied with a very serious expression.

"Yes, sir. Mister President, how should we proceed next?"

"For now, let the call through. I shall personally speak to him."

The employee promptly presented a smartphone to the president that was already connected to the mystery person on the other end of the line. The leader of South Korea took over the phone, and a voice that pretty much all Koreans were familiar with came out from the device's speaker.

– "I pondered deeply on this matter for a very long time, comrade. And…. And, I've come to a decision that it might be for our best interest to aid our cadres in the South."

That voice belonged to the leader of North Korea. The South Korean President couldn't immediately understand what the other party was talking about and tilted his head this way and that.

"What… do you want to aid us with?"

– "Didn't a Gate appear in the skies of Seoul? We shall dispatch our Hunters there, too. Let us combine the strengths of both the South and North to deal with this matter."

North Korea was the signal flare.

The neighbouring nations had only displayed a tepid reaction towards the request for cooperation even with the appearance of Gate boasting an unprecedented size. But now, their attitudes did a complete 180 in an instant.

– South Korea, no, Hunter Seong Jin-Woo, must not be allowed to fall.

This was the conclusion various nations came to after watching the battle between Jin-Woo and the 'Unknown' monsters.

The ill fortune of Korea wouldn't simply end in Korea alone. Which Hunter belonging to a country would be capable of stopping a calamity that Hunter Seong Jin-Woo couldn't stop?

From the closest nations – North Korea, Japan, China, Russia – and to the far-flung nations such as America, Germany, Britain, and France, their Hunters hurriedly set off for Seoul in order to make it in time.

There was only one thought within their minds.

'We need to aid Hunter Seong Jin-Woo and block the super-massive Gate, no matter the cost.'

The notion of Jin-Woo being their final defence line had been instilled within them after witnessing his feats.

And now, not just South Korea's own Hunters, but the entire world's were gathering in the capital city of this small nation in East Asia.

Chapter 225 Fin.

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Dawn, when everyone was in a deep sleep.

Jin-Woo travelled back to the sea of trees located in Japan, still remaining as a no-entry, prohibited area, after experiencing the dungeon break of the Giant-type monsters.

He didn't come here to raise his level or to look at the stars in the sky, though. But then again, it must've been the memories of the night before, because when he took a look at the night sky, he naturally remembered Hae-In's face.

Jin-Woo stopped by his family and assured them he was fine and quickly returned to the hotel in Japan. Cha Hae-In had already understood the reason why Jin-Woo had to disappear on her like that, just before they were about to share a meal together.

She knew better than anyone what would've happened if Jin-Woo didn't rush back to Seoul. Her expression as she tried to hide her anxiety remained etched in his memory for some reason, though.

'….Let's get started.'

Jin-Woo took a look around him. Just like before, the stillness of the forest, with not a single living soul in it, greeted him. There was something he had to do in this place.

Jin-Woo sought out a suitable open ground and soon located one. He summoned out a portion of his Shadow Soldiers next.

'Come out.'

Jin-Woo's shadow expanded out greatly and his soldiers appeared on the ground. They were none other than the new additions to his army.

Jin-Woo tasted a mixed bag of emotions as he studied them. For the first time ever, he ended up breaking his own rule yesterday, one that he religiously adhered to since the very beginning.

These new soldiers were, before yesterday, all regular people. No, they were victims who were murdered by the Sovereigns.

Hundreds of soldiers, created from the regular people dying unjustly, as well as Hunters who tried to save them, now stood before their new master. He broke his own rule of never using innocent souls as his Shadow Soldiers.

And that was why Jin-Woo wanted to ask for their cooperation in this place.

'Until this war is over, lend me your strengths, everyone.'

To protect their families, their lovers, their friends and their homes from those b*stards.

'I promise to return you to the eternal rest once the battle is over.'

Although they were the dead beings forced into expressing their absolute loyalty through the Shadow Sovereign's ability, they still retained their individual egos.

Jin-Woo's sincere heart and desire were transmitted to every single one of them. Their eyes under the helms, covered by the darkness of the dawn, contained flames of hatred and rage towards the monsters that made them this way.

They realised this crucial fact – that they were now given a chance to exact revenge on those creatures with their own hands. And the one that gifted them this opportunity was the Shadow Sovereign standing right before them.

'We shall fight alongside our liege!

We shall never let those monsters rape and pillage our land and our families!'

Such desires were being engraved in them now.

The stronger the Shadow Sovereign became, the greater the enhancement to the abilities of the Shadow Soldiers. Unlike in the past when he was borrowing the powers of the Shadow Sovereign through the System, Jin-Woo now inherited it completely and thus, the Shadow Soldiers created by him could not be underestimated at all.

Jin-Woo made one more request to them.

'Lend me your strength.'

Their Sovereign made a request, and the Shadow Soldiers immediately replied back. They raised their fists up high and from their open mouths, the death throe-like horrifying roars exploded out.

Wuuuaaaaahhhh-!!!

The roaring started from the front row, but gradually shifted to the rear like the receding tides, and eventually, the entirety of the summoned Shadow Soldiers were crying out towards the sky.

Aaaaah-!!!

Their resentment-laden screams seemed to shake the earth itself. With this, the Army of Death had finished getting ready.

Jin-Woo's eyes as he scanned them, flickered in a cold, murderous glare.

Definitely.

He'd definitely make the Sovereigns pay.

The roars of the soldiers filled with hatred continued to echo out for a long, long time afterwards.

The day before the dungeon break from the super-massive Gate was to take place.

It had been two days since the System disappeared. Jin-Woo was getting acclimatised by the absence of Daily Quests now. Many things had become convenient for him ever since restrictions put in place by the System had gone away, but there was also a few things that made life rather difficult, as well.

One such difficulty was the 'Store'.

Jin-Woo summoned out a bottle of healing potion originally stored in his 'Inventory' and stared at it as if to bore a hole through the darn thing.

As it turned out, every item found in the Store had been created out of the Shadow Sovereign's powers. It was basically magic, where one would create something with Mana.

So, the theory went that, since he had inherited the Shadow Sovereign's powers, Jin-Woo should be able to create the same types of items as long as he willed it, but….

He quietly closed his eyes and began picturing the healing potion inside his head. When he did, he could pick up the movement of Mana.

'Concentrate, concentrate….'

Unfortunately, Mana busily moving around failed to gather and coagulate before scattering away in the air. It was a failure.

Jin-Woo spat out a sigh and opened his eyes again. It seemed that the threshold of creating something out of magic was still out of reach for him, for now.

'I guess I need to practice for a bit longer.'

It was then.

The smartphone resting on top of his desk began vibrating and issued the 'du-du-du' noise.

– "Seong Hunter-nim, it's Woo Jin-Cheol speaking."

"Hello. What can I do for you?"

Jin-Woo settled down on his bed and answered the call.

Woo Jin-Cheol must've been working day and night, thanks to the mass-scale incidents that kept happening one after another, because his voice came across as a bit hoarse on the phone.

– "Excuse me, Hunter-nim… If it's not too much trouble, may I ask you to come to the Association today?"

The estimated time for the dungeon break was literally right around the corner. From the perspective of the Association, they would've liked to get some advice from Jin-Woo, arguably the core combat force of the upcoming raid.

Since Jin-Woo didn't have anything on his schedule anyway, he agreed to it without hesitation.

"I shall see you there."

Click.

He ended the call and got ready to leave, but then, Igrit abruptly addressed him.

[My liege.]

'Mm?'

Jin-Woo was yet to get used to Igrit's voice. Still, he paid attention to the black knight's trademark heavy and courteous tone.

[There is something I'd like to speak to you about.]

Next day.

Every TV station around the world stopped with their regular programming to broadcast live the unfolding situation in Seoul.

Some stations chose to broadcast the situation as it unfolded in the regular news format, while some others invited experts in the field and asked for their opinions.

One of the largest broadcasters in the States, 'Hunter Channel' went with the latter route and had invited experts in.

The broadcast soon got underway; one of the experts spoke in clear reminiscence as they looked at the live footage of the Hunters completely filling up the Gate's location.

"Do you know how long it has been since that many Hunters from various countries have gathered in one spot?"

The emcee smiled and replied.

"I'm not sure…. Since Guilds with different nationalities join forces together to go on raids often, I'm guessing that it must've been pretty recent."

The expert shook his head.

"It's been over eight years. Eight. And it's now approaching the ninth year mark now."

Eight years.

Everyone watching the broadcast heard those words and immediately recalled the gigantic monster that terrorised humanity back then. The emcee wasn't an exception, either.

"You say eight years…. Are you saying that this spectacle would be the very first time since the 'Kamish' raid?"

"Yes, that's correct. This would be the first time that Hunters from five different nations or more got together, post-Kamish raid."

Back then, the greatest Hunters alive from every corner of the globe stepped up to aid the United States of America, only to be annihilated and out of hundreds of them participating, only five managed to survive. They then became the 'Special Authority-rank' Hunters.

To all those countries that had lost their top Hunters, that day's losses were indeed incredibly difficult to bear.

"Ever since that day, every nation refrained from interfering in the problems of other nations."

That would be an obvious result. No one alive would've wanted to see the Hunters from their own countries lose their lives for another country.

Sure, there had been infrequent occurrences of Guilds from different nations joining hands for their mutual benefits, but this many Hunters gathering together in such a huge scale to aid another country would be a very rare thing to see.

"In that case, Doctor, could you possibly be saying that Hunter Seong Jin-Woo from South Korea will bring together the world's Hunters, torn apart by the entrance of the Dragon Kamish?"

"That is correct."

Perhaps finding the long-winded explanation rather laborious, the expert took a deep breath first before continuing on afterwards.

"It all started with Hunter Seong Jin-Woo solving the calamity of Japan's dungeon break."

Before that happened, though, Japan stepped up to help out with the problem on Jeju Island, but as everyone knew, the result of that venture was a complete disaster.

If the story ended there, then that would only add weight to the opinion that one shouldn't be interfering with the problems of other countries. However, everything was turned on its head after Jin-Woo stepped up to eliminate the Giants that had made their appearance in Japan.

Even though there was the historical baggage between the two countries, as well as the dastardly scheme Japan's Association had cooked up, a Korean Hunter still willingly rolled up his sleeves to aid his neighbours, didn't he?

"Most likely, all the gratitude and admiration the Japanese citizens feel towards him can't be put into mere words."

Japan was able to survive the crisis all thanks to Jin-Woo's aid. With that, the unwritten rule of not interfering with another country's matter, in order to protect their own Hunters, had been broken for the first time.

What he did was to instil the sense of confidence of 'I can do this' into the Hunters. And a few days ago….

"Everyone watching the scenes of Hunter Thomas Andre falling must've sensed it then."

Which living Hunter would be able to stop those monsters?

"And Hunter Seong Jin-Woo showed them what the answer was."

However, the next problem facing them seemingly featured an even higher difficulty. If Hunter Seong Jin-Woo fell, then who out there would be capable of stopping the calamity?

Although there was a thin smile on his face, the emcee couldn't form an answer to that query. The expert answered for him, instead.

"There's no one. Indeed, there is no one capable. In other words, Hunter Seong Jin-Woo is the final line. If he falls, then everything will end."

At that moment, many countries thinking that the super-massive Gate floating in the skies above Seoul was South Korea's problem only, quickly came to a realisation.

If the Koreans couldn't stop that Gate, then next would be North Korea, then either China or Russia, and eventually, the rest of the world. Now, the super-massive Gate had become the common enemy of the entire world.

This was the result achieved by a lone Hunter from Asia.

The expert was about to explain that they needed to overcome this upcoming calamity first if that result was to proudly bear its fruit. However, at that moment…

"Ahh! Look, just now!"

The emcee had been listening attentively to what the expert was saying but he saw the urgent prompts from the director and jumped up from his seat.

The gazes of the experts quickly shifted over to the live feed, as well.

The live footage now displayed the super-massive Gate opening its maws wide.

"Oh, my god…."

Everyone present within the studio became utterly speechless from the imagery that easily surpassed their imaginations.

The air began trembling.

Tens of thousands of Hunters surrounding the spot just below the Gate held their breaths and waited. This was a memorable spectacle, this sight of countless Hunters waiting for one single moment to happen.

The close-quarter type Hunters quietly waited for their turns, while those capable of attacking at long distances got ready to fling out pre-emptive strikes at a moment's notice.

Arrows laden with magical energy and various spells ready to be cast were aimed at the sky.

Taut tension filled up the atmosphere.

And then… Whenever the gazes of these Hunters stopped glaring at the Gate above and lowered to the ground, they would all look at one place without fail. That would be Jin-Woo's back.

Standing at the furthest front, Jin-Woo was glaring up at the sky with a sombre expression.

With every passing second, the dungeon break was approaching closer and closer. He could sense their aura now.

Ba-thump, ba-thump, ba-thump.

The Black Heart, replacing his destroyed human heart, powerfully pulsed within his chest to let him know of the current situation.

Of course, the hearts of other Hunters were pounding away restlessly, as well. It was all because of the nervousness seemingly oppressing everything.

However, the emotion Jin-Woo was feeling at the moment was quite different from theirs. He was doing his best not to lose his composure and waited for the approaching final hour.

Hae-In, standing next to him, saw his expression and whispered to him.

"I think it's my first time seeing you so tense like this, Mister Jin-Woo."

"Really?"

Jin-Woo smirked to let her know that it was nothing. Hae-In also formed a light smile as a reply and looked back at the Gate while unsheathing her blade. She too had sensed that the beginning of the life-or-death battle was here.

'Soon….'

However, she was mistaken about something.

Jin-Woo placed his hand on his chest and silently closed his eyes. He felt the pounding of his heart. The emotion welling up in his chest was neither nervousness nor terror. No, it was excitement.

"T-they are coming!"

"The Gate's been opened!!"

Finally, the Gate began opening up.

The wall separating this world and the Gate disappeared and certain 'things' staying within finally began pouring out in endless droves. These creatures completely blotted out the sky in no time at all.

The Hunters below became completely dumbfounded by the number of descending creatures that seemed to be at least over one hundred thousand.

"But, how… how can that many monsters… at the same time?!"

"There, there are just too many!!!"

Gasps and screams thick with despair exploded out from here and there.

All those 'certain things' must've been under the influence of gravity-reduction magic, because they all landed on the ground very slowly.

"Attack! Hurry, attack!"

"Everyone, attack!"

Before those things land on the ground, they should try to reduce their numbers, at least by a little bit. Hunters sensed that their opportunity was here and began making their moves.

Magic spells ready to cast gleamed brightly from their hands and bowstrings aimed at the sky were all pulled taut. Tankers raised their shields up right near their chins to get ready for close-quarters combat with those descending things.

But then, before the concentrated firepower from the Hunters could pour out, Jin-Woo loudly yelled out.

[Nobody move!]

Jin-Woo's will, carried by Mana, was clearly transmitted to even those Hunters who didn't know any Korean. And it made everyone stop what they were doing.

'But, why?'

'Why did he stop us from attacking?'

Even though tens of thousands of Hunters were staring at him with eyes that screamed, 'I don't understand', Jin-Woo simply repeated what he said.

[Everyone, don't move.]

Woo Jin-Cheol watching from the distance hurriedly wiped the sweat off his forehead.

If they don't attack now, then those creatures would land safely on the ground. When the battle breaks out in that situation, the Hunters out in front could get sucked into the attacks fired from the back.

Meaning, incidents of them worrying about the friendly fire would happen when they were already in a numerical disadvantage.

One of the subordinate Hunters working for the Association quickly approached Woo Jin-Cheol and looked at his boss with a worried expression.

"Association President…."

It was now time to make his decision. His head screamed at him to send out the word to start attacking, but in the end, Woo Jin-Cheol decided to trust Jin-Woo.

"Everyone, do not fire!"

"Do not fire!!"

Woo Jin-Cheol was put in charge of commanding the Hunters. So, rather understandably, they became quite dazed and lowered their hands when he began telling them not to attack.

'Just what are they thinking now?'

'They want to engage those things on the ground instead of hitting them first with ranged attacks? Against that many monsters???'

As confusion and terror began whipping up around the battlefield….

Eventually, those creatures landed on the ground.

The number of black monsters completely filling up the sights of the Hunters were so great that one's mind would grow faint just from the sheer scale.

From the gathered swarm of monsters, one particular being began walking out towards them. Jin-Woo, too, stepped forward.

Just what was going to happen from here onwards?

Hunters couldn't even breathe properly and closely watched Jin-Woo.

Jin-Woo stopped walking, and the 'monster' also stopped walking as well.

And then….

The 'monster' looking at Jin-Woo suddenly knelt down on the ground. And at that moment, the soldiers behind it also knelt down at the same time.

Chut.

The spectacle of a hundred thousand-plus soldiers bowing their heads at the same time carried an incredible, overwhelming shock value.

After a short bout of silence passed, the 'monster' kneeling right out in front raised its head and spoke.

[Grand-Marshal Bellion, here to humbly greet the Sovereign with his Shadow Army.]

Chapter 226 Fin.

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Chapter 227: Chapter 227

Fifty thousand or so Hunters from all corners of the globe, here to defend against the super-massive Gate, watched dazedly as the black monsters began kneeling before Jin-Woo.

"Jesus….."

This sea of soldiers wrapped in black armour or black smoke seemed to go on forever. Every single one of these creatures possessed an incredible amount of magical energy, but there was something else that made the gathered Hunters doubt their own eyes even more.

"T-that, that, that! Could that be?!"

"Right at the end there, you see what's right at the end there, right?"

"…..Yeah, I can see it."

Hunters pointed to the back of this army of black soldiers, their complexions paling greatly. More specifically, they were pointing to the three black Dragons at the back of the army who were obediently lowering their heads before their owner, as if they were house-trained pets or some such.

The gathered Hunters were now rendered completely speechless after discovering those Dragons being the part of the line-up of these black soldiers.

The Dragon that appeared for the first, and last, time in human history had been 'Kamish'. That one creature alone managed to wipe out almost every single elite Hunter alive back then, and the whole world was in danger of being thrust into a horrifying conflagration of destruction.

Seriously now, would people begin calling that Dragon with a name carrying the meaning of 'undying flames' for no good reason?

And so – only one such creature was enough to threaten the very existence of the human race, yet there were three of them now. It couldn't be helped that the Hunters gathered here to fight these things felt as if all of their energy was quickly abandoning them.

Just what would have happened if they decided to clash against this army? Hunters imagined the potential combat situation against these black monsters currently in bowing positions and felt goosebumps rapidly spread throughout their bodies next.

And at the same time, they grew really curious about the real identity of Hunter Seong Jin-Woo, standing before them as if it was the most obvious thing in the world.

Jin-Woo swept his gaze over the Grand-Marshal Bellion and the seemingly endless number of Shadow Soldiers kneeling behind their leader.

'So, this is the real Shadow Army….'

What Igrit said was right.

His black knight asked for an audience and spoke to Jin-Woo in his usual dignified manner yesterday.

[My liege, the Shadow Army has concluded all of their preparations.]

Jin-Woo needed a bit of time to completely digest those words. That's how surprising it was to him.

That was why he was in a dilemma.

He knew better than anyone here regarding the matters with the Sovereigns and the Rulers, as well as the truth behind the Gates. But the thing was, he himself wasn't certain about the overall narrative, so there was no way he'd be able to convincingly explain what was happening here to everyone else.

No, it was an impossibly tall order to convince every one of these Hunters coming from all over the world to stop the Gate before it turned into the worst calamity in human history.

And also….

In the one-in-ten-thousand case, no, make that one in ten million chance that Igrit's information was faulty, could he be able to handle the fallout from that?

That was why Jin-Woo decided to wait.

He decided not to make up his mind until he could confirm the truth with his own eyes first, and waited until the Gate opened up. And the result of that was now kneeling before his eyes.

Jin-Woo inwardly swallowed his saliva and scanned his soldiers. Although he was not responsible for raising these soldiers, he could still sense that every single one of them was connected to him.

It was a complicated network, connected like a spiderweb. And through this network, the level of sheer joy they felt at reuniting with their master was fully transmitted to him.

'This is the inheritance the former Shadow Sovereign had given to me….'

These creatures were all swearing their loyalty to their new master. Just like how quickly their hearts were racing, Jin-Woo's own chest was as well, now filled up with powerful emotions.

That's right.

He took a brief look at the Dragons at the back before returning his gaze to the front of the army.

The Grand-Marshal Bellion.

This guy certainly possessed a suitable amount of dignity and strength, fitting for the title he carried. There was a trace of torn-off wings on the back of his armour, though.

'Two pairs of wings….'

Jin-Woo recalled that regular silver-clad soldiers possessed a pair of wings, while the Rulers had six wings, and from that fact, he could roughly estimate the level of Bellion's capability.

Jin-Woo focused his sensory perception and the light within his eyes gleamed brightly.

With that, he could take a gander at the truly humongous reserve of magical energy the Grand-Marshal chose to hide because of the presence of his liege.

'As expected….'

Because he possessed this much power, he was indeed qualified to lead a Shadow Army that contained even Dragons.

Jin-Woo raised his head.

The Shadow Army. The king wishing to go to war had finally regained his soldiers.

Ba-thump, ba-thump, ba-thump.

Jin-Woo took a long, hard look at his soldiers as his heart raced faster and faster. The thing was, those kneeling before him weren't the only Shadow Army, now were they?

If these guys were the soldiers that belonged to the former Shadow Sovereign 'Osborne', then Jin-Woo too possessed his own loyal soldiers, as well.

'Come out.'

Even more Shadow Soldiers materialised from behind Jin-Woo at his beckoning. Their numbers had already ballooned to near two thousand by now.

Beru, Igrit, Greed, No. 6, Fangs, Iron, Jima, Tank, etc., all filled up the space behind Jin-Woo. And then….

Chut.

….They too knelt down and lowered their heads, just like the Shadow Soldiers that came out from the massive Gate. Every single Shadow Soldier, surrounding him from both sides, swore their allegiances in silence.

Jin-Woo nodded his head.

Finally, the separated Shadow Army had become whole.

A powerful force capable of standing up against the enemies and their armies had been completed. Things seemed to be unfolding quite smoothly right now.

However, Jin-Woo could feel quite a few gazes flying in his direction, stabbing him rather painfully on his neck, and he just had to take a look behind him.

That's where he discovered tens of thousands of Hunters standing there staring at him, along with hundreds of reporters risking their lives to record the historic battle that was supposed to take place here.

Understandably, all of them were sporting the same sort of expression that screamed, "Just what the hell is going on here??"

'Okay, so now….'

As a sort of reply to their frozen-stiff expressions, Jin-Woo formed an awkward smile.

'….How am I supposed to explain this?'

Quite obviously, the whole world was in an uproar.

Well, every single monster emerging from the super-massive Gate started kneeling before Hunter Seong Jin-Woo, and this shocking scene was broadcast live to the entire world, so the pandemonium breaking out was rather understandable.

Viewers were watching on with anxiety and dread as the Gate opened up, so it was quite hard for them to drag themselves out from the pit of heady mental shock, akin to someone smacking them unexpectedly in the back of their noggins.

Pretty much every single online community went into a heated frenzy over this matter.

– What the freak? Those black monsters just now, just what the f*ck happened? Is anyone capable of explaining this sh*t?

– Don't tell me, all those monsters are Seong Jin-Woo's summons????

Horsesh*t…. I heard from somewhere that well over a hundred thousand monsters came out from that Gate.

What the hell. How can summons pop out from a Gate? You should start spewing things that make sense.

Oh? Why don't you, good sir, enlighten us, the ignorant masses, then?

First of all, they all look exactly like Hunter Seong Jin-Woo's summons, don't they? But still, how can summons come out of a Gate?

Many displayed the reactions of disbelief, but there were also a few who viewed the incident in a different light.

– Still, isn't it a relief that those monsters weren't our enemies?

For real. ㅇㅈ.

If they were, we'd all be dead by now. I saw an interview and they say there were three Dragons in the horde, too.

Three Dragons LOLOLOL So f*cking crazy. LOLOL

Kamish comes out, sees them, he be like, "Nope", goes away ROFL

What are you even talking about? Kamish died almost nine years ago, so how can that thing come out and goes away again?

The commenter above mine, whoooosh. You must be a delight in dinner parties.

– Argh, this sh*t is driving me nuts. Seriously, man…. I wish Hunter Seong Jin-Woo just comes out clean and tells us what happened….

Meanwhile, TV stations continued to repeatedly broadcast the same shocking scenes from back then, and did their best to analyse and come to a suitable conjecture.

Unfortunately, there were no experts on this planet capable of convincingly explaining away the event of summoned creatures, not monsters, that belonged to a single person and even contained Dragons, coming out from a Gate boasting an unprecedented size.

"Huh-uh…."

"As to figure out how something like that can happen, even I…."

"Mhmm…"

Every single one of them was at a loss and could only shake their heads. They even spat out astonished gasps at the recorded footage of a hundred thousand-plus summoned creatures kneeling before Jin-Woo played over and over again.

Anyone could tell that was the sight of those creatures acknowledging who their master was. Some quarters in the world even raised the idea of calling Jin-Woo with a nickname of 'Demon King' because of that memorable scene alone.

Indeed, Jin-Woo was emitting the kind of manly aura befitting the title of 'Demon King' as he was being surrounded by all those black soldiers.

Soon, experts collectively defined this incident as….

….A miracle.

"Although this event unfolded in a shocking and unexpected manner, there is little doubt the end result is a fortunate one for all of us."

"It's fortunate, you say?"

"Can you see how many monsters, no, summons there are on screen right now?"

The expert pointed towards the Shadow Army displayed on the screen. Beyond Jin-Woo standing before them, one could see a nearly-infinite number of soldiers busy bowing their heads.

The emcee didn't think too deeply about it as he began counting with his eyes before dry saliva automatically slid down his throat from that outrageous number on display.

One didn't even need to bring up the fact that there were three Dragons included in this army. That was how horrifying the overall number was.

"If our Hunters were to fight those things, then it would no longer have been the issue of whether we'd win or lose. No, the remainder of humanity would have been counting the hours until those creatures get to the other side of the planet and completely exterminate us, instead."

The emcee's head nodded all by itself.

"Fortunately, they are summoned creatures of Hunter Seong Jin-Woo. And it seems that he can control them just fine."

Regrettably, though – that remained a conjecture at this stage.

"Only Hunter Seong Jin-Woo knows the truth."

That was where the expert ended his explanation. With rather excellent timing, the screen now displayed the very last scene from that event, the one responsible for causing everyone to be so astonished like this.

"Right here, this moment."

Jin-Woo was taking a sweeping look at the other Hunters before he literally slid into his own shadow and disappeared without a trace.

That's how he vanished from everyone's sight.

The emcee helplessly shook his head before adjusting his glasses and continued on.

"The protagonist of this chaos, Hunter Seong Jin-Woo – just where could he be right now?"

The Korean Hunter's Association was inundated with telephone inquiries, lodged seemingly by the entire world. Their only reply so far had been, "We don't know, either."

That, though, was like adding fuel to the already burning flames of interest for the event the world had laser-focused onto. The emcee stared straight into the camera with a still-excited face and addressed the viewers at home.

"We can only pray that he returns as soon as possible to clarify all the questions that continue to burn a hole in our heads."

Jin-Woo put aside the curiosity of many, many people for the time being and made his way to the sea of trees in Japan. This vast expense of abandoned land was just about the perfect place to observe the movements of the entire Shadow Army.

Jin-Woo stood at a far distance, while the 130,000 plus army was split in two and stood on either side of a vast field.

'Start.'

He issued his order inwardly, prompting the two columns of armies to powerfully rush towards each other.

Dududududududu-!!

The sounds of their feet pounding on the ground seemed to rock the earth. The distance between the two columns of rushing soldiers closed up in an instant, and just before they were about to clash head-on….

….Jin-Woo shifted the platoons that fell behind in the rush right behind the other column and had them surround the opponents in this mock battle.

Was that all?

In a location where there was a shortage of soldiers, he sent reinforcements. When some soldiers were left isolated, he simply unsummoned them and brought them back out in an adequate-enough location. The smoothness of his actions was like a river flowing to the ocean.

Deployment and manipulation of soldiers based on the experiences of battles he fought so far also applied to this hundred thousand-strong great army, as well.

"That's enough."

Jin-Woo spoke in a soft voice but that was still enough for the Shadow Soldiers to hear his will. They all came to a standstill in an instant.

Chack!

Their movements were in perfect synchronisation. After stopping this mock battle, Jin-Woo took a look to his side.

"So, what do you think?"

The Grand-Marshal Bellion spoke in an amazed, admiring tone of voice.

"I've never thought about mobilising the forces in this manner. I can only express the emotions of awe and shock, my liege."

It seemed that, to Bellion, controlling the combatants in this manner was a fresh concept to mull over, even though he had roamed countless battlefields with the former Shadow Sovereign.

Especially the part about utilising the aspect of freely summoning and un-summoning Shadow Soldiers – that part left him with quite a pleasant surprise.

Igrit had been with Jin-Woo since the beginning and was perhaps the most familiar with how their master fought, so he proudly opened up his chest just a little bit wider.

Jin-Woo smirked softly while watching the black knight and his growing nose for a bit. He had to stop and pick up his phone, though, when the device suddenly went off noisily inside his pocket.

Vuwooo… Vuwoooo….

– "Hyung-nim, it's me, Jin-Ho."

"Hey. What's up."

According to Yu Jin-Ho, calls inundated not just the Association but the Ah-Jin Guild as well after Jin-Woo went and disappeared on everyone without saying a word, leading to the phone lines temporarily breaking down.

"….My bad. Can you hold on for a bit longer until I properly organise my thoughts first?"

– "Don't worry about it, hyung-nim. Didn't we establish this Guild so that you can focus on doing raids without being harassed by stuff like these?"

After hearing Yu Jin-Ho's smiling voice coming out of the phone, Jin-Woo also formed a smile.

– "Ah, by the way. Have you called your family yet, hyung-nim?"

"Yeah. I told them I'll be home after cooling my head a little bit."

– "Well, in that case, they should be less worried about you. That's a relief, hyung-nim."

Jin-Woo pocketed the phone after ending the call, but a heavy, lengthy sigh slowly escaped from his mouth as he did so.

He knew that he shouldn't be avoiding 'it' like this. However, in order to explain the Gates and his Shadow Soldiers, then naturally, he had to speak about the matters of the Sovereigns and Rulers, as well.

Soon, soldiers of the Sovereigns would pour out from the eight remaining Gates. How was he to go about telling others that the entire world would be turned into a fierce, bloody battlefield?

In order to give himself some time to think, he simply had to get away from there.

He thought that this was for the best.

Just a little bit longer.

He wanted humanity to enjoy peace even for a little bit longer.

'I'm sure I can delay this for a few more days.'

Jin-Woo kept telling himself this; meanwhile, Beru sneaked closer to him and spoke in a serious voice. He had been rather quiet for some reason lately, though?

"Oh, my king…."

"Mm?"

Jin-Woo turned around to look at Beru kneeling on the ground, his head lowered deeply towards the ground as he opened his mouth.

"I beg of thee to bestow unto me an opportunity to compete for the position of the Grand-Marshal."

"The position of the Grand-Marshal, you say?"

But, didn't they already have a Grand-Marshal?

Jin-Woo felt puzzled by this, before abruptly recalling the System's information on the highest grade of Shadow Soldiers available.

'In that case, could he be….?'

Sure enough – Beru raised his head.

"As a Marshal of the army, I'd like to challenge the Grand-Marshal Bellion."

Chapter 227 Fin.

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Chapter 228: Chapter 228

When the System was still around, it did mention something about what Beru was talking about. There could be only one occupying the position of the general of the army.

So, Soldiers that recently reached the Marshal grade must establish a hierarchy with the one before it – didn't the System say something like that?

If he were to assume the general of the army was the Grand-Marshal, then indeed, Beru, as the recently-promoted Marshal, possessed the qualification to challenge Bellion.

Perhaps befitting an ant-type monster familiar with living in a large community, Beru wanted to establish the proper pecking order between the Marshals, it seemed.

'Marshals going at it, huh...?'

Just to make sure, Jin-Woo shifted his gaze over to his other Marshal, Igrit, but the black knight politely declined the proposition. It seemed that he wasn't interested in establishing the hierarchy between the Marshals at all.

Unsurprisingly, once the black knight quietly took a step back, the other guy to catch Jin-Woo's attention was Bellion standing next to him.

The current leader in charge of the army 130,000-strong was Bellion right now. Only Jin-Woo was above him in terms of hierarchy, as the master of the army itself.

After meeting his liege's gaze, Bellion bowed his head slightly.

Since he was in the presence of his master, he had lowered his posture as much as possible, but still, he was a good head taller than Thomas Andre. This giant calmly answered his boss's querying eyes.

"I shall follow your will."

Follow his will, he said.

Jin-Woo formed a slight smirk at Bellion's answer.

His voice was, of course, very humble. However, it wasn't all that difficult to read the underlying message that he'd face the challenger head on, as long his master gives the permission.

Jin-Woo sneaked a glance behind him, and Beru standing there had already extended his claws while visibly burning with fighting spirit himself. He must've also read the message, too.

"Kiieeehk!"

While Bellion was doing his best to mask his magic energy as much as possible, Beru was the opposite and didn't hold back any of his horrible magic energy emission.

'Hmm...'

Jin-Woo pondered for a moment or two before making up his mind.

"Alright."

He knew pretty much everything there was to know about Beru, but Bellion was a different story. Knowing the extent of his combat prowess would prove to be an invaluable data in deploying the army correctly in the future.

It was also obvious that Jin-Woo's heart would sway towards allowing the challenge to go through.

"However, I shall be the one judging when to end the bout."

After receiving his master's permission, Beru's expression was now overflowing with ecstasy. Moved almost to tears, his eyes began sparkling brightly as he cried out.

"I am humbled and deeply honoured by your inscrutable..."

"Stop it."

"...I thank thee, my king."

On one side, Beru celebrating his opportunity. On the other side, Bellion calmly getting ready for the upcoming challenge.

It was as if these two were the plucky challenger going up against the incumbent champion in a sports movie. But before these two could start duking it out for real, there was something Jin-Woo had to confirm first.

He summoned out a single 'Kamish's Wrath' and loaded a bit of black aura on its tip. Then, he lightly swung it towards the forest.

Kwa-jajajajajajajak!!

The black 'howl' shooting out from the shortsword swept up a portion of the forest. However, the damage wasn't as severe as he thought. Jin-Woo nodded and stored the weapon away.

'With this much...'

It seemed that he didn't need to worry about the surroundings getting destroyed unduly during the battle of the two Marshals. The ground had been hardened sufficiently enough by the condensed Mana and it would survive the upcoming warfare without a doubt.

Jin-Woo gazed at the earth with a somewhat lonely expression before raising his head. His eyes were already filled back up with anticipation as he looked at his two Marshals.

"Well, then..."

Both the Grand-Marshal and the newbie Marshal waiting for their master's order nodded their heads simultaneously.

"We are ready, my liege."

"Give us your order, oh my king!"

Jin-Woo chuckled and addressed the two.

"Get to your positions."

Meanwhile, back in the Korean Hunter's Association.

The activities taking place inside the Association's emergency response conference hall were a lot more bustling than before, even though the so-called emergency situation had come to an end yesterday.

"The international media is still hounding us, demanding us to release an official statement already, sir!"

"The American Hunter Bureau is requesting us to release the information on Seong Jin-Woo Hunter-nim's current whereabouts!"

"The Seoul Metropolitan Fire Disasters are asking us if it's okay to bring back the evacuated citizens."

"The Hunter Channel's famous 'The Jimmy Show' wants to interview Seong Jin-Woo Hunter-nim..."

"Jimmy or whatever can kiss my a*s!! If he's able to, tell him to find the guy and try his luck there!"

The number of calls flooding the Association was inconceivably high. It was a small miracle already that their phone lines hadn't broken down yet.

As for the Association President Woo Jin-Cheol, even though he breathlessly issued one order after another, he also didn't forget to spit out groans repeatedly as he stared at the stacks of official inquiry documents on his desk.

"Fuu-woo..."

The things he had to do was as tall as Mount Tai at this moment. No, hang on – if it was only as tall as that legendary mountain, that would have actually been preferable.

The thing was, Mount Tai had actually formed a long-a*s mountain range, and after overcoming one mountain, he'd be facing another one, and another one after that, and yet another one was waiting for him….

His work had piled up to the extent he couldn't see the end now.

It was so serious that even he was feeling dizzy from the craziness of it all when he was supposed to be a rank A Hunter!

But then – Woo Jin-Cheol was busy shaking his head to get rid of this drowsiness, until he ended up hearing something spoken by a subordinate that simply could not be overlooked, no matter the circumstances.

"Just why did Hunter Seong Jin-Woo's summons have to come out from there..."

This employee's words were tinged with a certain amount of dissatisfaction. Woo Jin-Cheol's drowsiness was driven away in an instant. He immediately made this employee stand at attention before him.

"In that case, do you, Mister Seong-Won, think it would have been better if monsters came out from that super-massive Gate yesterday? Is that what you're saying?"

"Pardon me, sir? Ah, no, that's not..."

The subordinate couldn't hide his fluster. Woo Jin-Cheol let his sharp scolding fly, regardless.

"If the phone calls you've been receiving until now weren't about TV stations asking for interviews but relatives of the deceased Hunters asking for the news of their loved ones, do you really think you can continue working with just the thoughts of things being too hectic for you?"

The subordinate employee couldn't even meet Woo Jin-Cheol's glare.

Even if you were nominally an employee of the Hunter's Association, as long as you hadn't worked out in the field, you'd never really understand it.

They would never understand just what Hunters had to go through during emergency situations.

They would never understand just what kind of things unfolded and got buried inside dungeons, enshrouded in the darkness where no one could see you.

Going through all the potential scenarios that could've gone down during the raid of the super-massive Gate, what happened yesterday was easily the best result one could ever hope for.

Over one hundred thousand monsters popped out, but no one got injured. Nothing was destroyed. Not only that, all those monsters were absorbed into Hunter Seong Jin-Woo's fighting force.

Just who could've imagined it?

Indeed, no one could've dreamed such a result that far exceeded one's expectations.

That was how Woo Jin-Cheol got to endure, with a smile on his face, all these mountains of work that probably required him to go through a few sleepless nights to finish.

But to think, there was an employee of the Hunter's Association busy complaining about yesterday's events just because his body became a bit fatigued.

How could he even dare to say something so nonsensical?

If Hunter Seong Jin-Woo was present nearby, Woo Jin-Cheol would've stepped up to slap some sense into this employee well before the young Hunter had a chance to get angry.

That was how deeply Woo Jin-Cheol understood what Jin-Woo was going through.

The Association President temporarily stopped his employees, and while taking a sweeping look at them, he began speaking with a loud voice.

"I know full well how flustered you all are after Seong Jin-Woo Hunter-nim suddenly vanished on us."

However, there must've been a good reason why Hunter Seong Jin-Woo had to disappear on them like that, when he was a man possessing a strong sense of responsibility.

"In a way, the person most confused by yesterday's event could very well be Seong Huner-nim."

Didn't someone say once that, with great power comes great responsibility?

Some line from a movie Woo Jin-Cheol watched a long time ago kept repeating itself in his head. However, that line helped him to imagine the weighty burden now pressing down on Hunter Seong Jin-Woo's shoulders.

'I've been around Hunter-nim for a while now, but yesterday was the first time seeing him that tense.'

Indeed, Jin-Woo didn't seem to know what was about to take place next.

It didn't matter who, anyone in his shoes would've thought of quickly getting the heck out of there when the Gate one was ready to die defending against instead suddenly began spewing out his own summons. What's more, they then began swearing their allegiance out of nowhere.

Who could be foolish enough to point the fingers of blame on him?

Right now, the Association's job was to share the load until Hunter Seong Jin-Woo finished sorting out his confusion and returned to explain the current situation.

The Association had to perform the role of a sturdy, dependable shield for Hunters, regardless of the time or the circumstances.

"If we at the Hunter's Association can't even understand what Seong Jin-Woo Hunter-nim is going through, just who else will??"

The employees listening to the passionate speech from their President forgot all about their fatigue, the corners of their eyes moistening quickly.

As for the employee complaining like a little kid because summoned creatures came out from the Gate, he lowered his head to Woo Jin-Cheol and apologised as his own nose reddened considerably.

"I'm sorry, sir. I was being thoughtless. I am truly sorry."

Woo Jin-Cheol wordlessly patted this guy on the shoulder and had him return to his post before sitting back down.

"Fuu-woo..."

He only shouted for a little while, yet there were at least twice as many documents as before piled up on his desk now.

He shifted his gaze away from the stacks of paper, his mind still worried about Jin-Woo who'd no doubt be stuck in all sorts of dilemmas even now.

'I wonder, what is Seong Jin-Woo Hunter-nim doing now?'

With a bright face, Jin-Woo got to a distance quite far from the two Marshals.

Igrit came to stand next to him.

Other Shadow Soldiers also spread out into a giant circle and created enough room for the two Marshals to move about unrestricted. Standing on the opposite end of that circle to his opponent, Beru extended his claws until they couldn't be extended anymore and screeched out loudly.

"Kiiiiiieeeeehk-!!"

Meanwhile, Bellion wordlessly unsheathed the sword mounted on his hips. So far, he seemed to be a type of swordsman similar to Igrit, but then...

'Mm...?'

Jin-Woo's gaze was fixed to Bellion's sword now. The blade looked rather uniquely-shaped.

'Hang on, can I even call that a blade?'

As a matter of fact, the blade resembled the body of a centipede in that it was made up of dozens of connected sections.

As if they were done with their preparations, both of them looked at Jin-Woo simultaneously.

"Begin!"

The moment the signal was given, Beru dashed forward immediately.

"Kiiiieeehk-!!"

He closed the distance with a stupendous turn of speed and powerfully swung his claws; Bellion proceeded to block and let the attack slide past him, and then, as Beru's momentum took him further away, the current Grand-Marshal spun around to face the distancing ant soldier.

It was then.

Jin-Woo's eyes widened.

Bellion pointed with his sword and it suddenly stretched out like a long snake to fly towards Beru.

Shushushushushu-!!

Beru urgently spun around and reflexively slapped the blade away.

CLANG!!

That was just the beginning.

Bellion used his sword like a whip and rained down a barrage of incredulous attacks at his target. The flexible body of the blade, carrying an enormous amount of Mana, danced and writhed according to its wielder's desire to pummel the ground and air surrounding Beru.

BOOM!! BANG!! BOOM! BANG!!

On the other hand, all Beru could do right now was to concentrate all his being to barely defend against the attacks.

"Kiiiieeehk!"

While watching Bellion's attacks that had clearly surpassed the limitation imposed by the sword-type weapon, Jin-Woo imagined what would happen if it was him facing that barrage.

When he did, everything seemed to slow down to a crawl. Even then, even within this slowed-down time, Bellion's sword remained dangerously fast.

Jin-Woo's expression became even more serious.

His eyes, now emitting cold glare, followed and caught each and every slap and swish of the unpredictable sword dance. Upper left, right side, upper left again, then lower left, and to upper right….

….The him of his imagination evaded all the attacks and was standing before Bellion.

And then, he cut the soldier down. In Jin-Woo's imagination, Bellion's neck rolled to the ground. It only took a blink to get to that point.

Bellion momentarily sensed this chill-inducing feeling of his neck being cut off and flinched grandly as he took a look in Jin-Woo's direction.

'Oops...'

He ended up being a bit carried away after discovering a rather interesting weapon; meeting Bellion's rather panicky gaze, Jin-Woo replied with an apologetic expression. But that only lasted for a moment.

Beru didn't miss this opening and viciously slapped the irritatingly-tenacious blade away, before dashing towards Bellion like a bolt of lightning.

"Kiiieeeehcck!!"

STAB-!

Unfortunately – against Jin-Woo's own expectation, the one to stab his weapon in the midriff of his opponent was Bellion.

What an unexpectedly fast motor reflex!

On top of that, a scary power capable of destroying everything with each attack. This was Bellion, the soldier who wasn't left wanting for anything as the Grand-Marshal of the Shadow Army.

'….Still, one should never let one's guard down.'

It was a wee bit uncool to talk about one of his soldiers in this manner, but well, the truth was, the biggest plus point of an insect was its tenacious vitality.

Sure enough, Beru suddenly expanded its body size even with a sword stuck to his belly. He swung his humongous fist down on the head of his opponent.

KWA-BOOM!!

The power behind that punch was so great that a part of Bellion's helm broke off and scattered black smoke in the air.

"Kiiieeehk!"

Almost right away, Beru followed up with his second attack. No, he tried to.

Beru's wrist was caught by Bellion's powerful grip just in time. The ant soldier tried to use his physical strength to yank his arm out, but too bad, the Grand-Marshal didn't even budge an inch.

In the meantime, Bellion cocked his free arm backwards. An enormous amount of Mana quickly gathered in that cocked arm.

A moment later.

BOOM-!!!

Beru's chest was punched powerfully and he flew backwards in a straight line. The shockwave generated at the same time from his flying figure swept up the forest surrounding him, and the trees were yanked out of the ground from their roots and all, before being flung away to the sides.

A long and straight path suddenly got carved out within the sea of trees.

"Kiiiieeehck!"

Beru hurriedly unfurled his wings to stop his body from being flung away endlessly. Unfortunately, just as he somehow managed to steady himself, Bellion had already arrived right before his face.

That was followed by a powerful slam towards the ground!

KWA-BOOM!!

Like a meteor crashing into earth, a huge crater caved in on the ground and Bellion lightly landed inside.

In the middle of this crater, Beru was hurriedly getting up to respond to his opponent. Now normally, any ol' regular enemy would have been torn to bits and shreds by now, but he had managed to withstand several of these attacks already.

Swiiiiish-!

Bellion used the back of his hand to slap away Beru's claws and just like that, smacked the ant soldier right on top of his head.

BOOM!!

That was the beginning of a dogfight.

Boom! Bang! Boom! Boooom!!

Beru's attacks were only on the level of briefly disrupting Bellion's balance, but...

BOOM-!!

….Bellion's attacks each carried fatal power behind them.

Craaaack, crack!!

Cracks formed on Beru's exoskeleton as if they were about to shatter at any given moment.

"Kiiieehk!"

Even then, Beru desperately resisted until the end, not showing any hints of giving up on this fight. He tried to chomp down on Bellion's shoulder, but the latter simply pushed away the former before grasping Beru's neck.

Kwa-jeeck!!

Now rendered immobile, Beru writhed his entire body to free himself, but Bellion remained unmoved. The latter simply concentrated Mana once more on his free arm so he could attack for the last time and end this fight.

A horrifying amount of Mana, more than enough to easily shatter the head of a Dragon in one hit, gathered around and distorted the space around his arm.

With this, it'd be the end.

Bellion's cocked fist soon flew out towards Beru's face.

But, Jin-Woo reached out and grasped the deadly fist before it did, since he didn't want to see Beru's head explode today.

Grab!

"That's enough."

Bellion realised that it was his liege stopping his fist and quickly withdrew his attack.

"My liege."

The Grand-Marshal hurriedly knelt down and bowed his head.

'….You did well.'

Jin-Woo praised Bellion with his eyes for not holding back anything and displaying his prowess like that. He then walked over to Beru collapsed on the ground.

"Kiieehhk, my king, I, I... kiieehk! I can still..."

Jin-Woo studied the faltering, unsteady Beru with pitying eyes before asking him out of genuine curiosity.

"Hey, Beru. Why are you so dead-set on the position of the Grand-Marshal?"

"Kiiehk, I, only, I wish to, become the Grand-Marshal and always stand next to my liege..."

Beru couldn't continue on due to his grief-stricken mind. Jin-Woo scratched the side of his head and offered up his reply.

"The Grand-Marshal can stand to my right, while you can stand to my left, right?"

Only then did Beru realise that he could still stand next to his liege without being the Grand-Marshal, and his eyes opened up extra-round.

"...I am honoured by..."

"Stop it."

Leaving behind Beru and his emotion-induced tears filling up his eyes, Jin-Woo stood back up and spat out a helpless sigh. But then...

Another Shadow Soldier silently approached him. It was none other than Igrit, who had been listening to the conversation between Jin-Woo and Beru without saying anything.

"My liege, may I be granted an opportunity to challenge..."

As Igrit cautiously asked, Jin-Woo quickly replied as if he was expecting this already.

"You can stand behind me."

Igrit couldn't finish the rest of his sentence due to his liege's keen insight.

"Is that so... In the end, the Shadow Sovereign has become our enemy."

The Dragon Emperor, currently in a humanoid form, was receiving the reports from the Sovereigns that had already descended to Earth. Only their voices softly echoed within this eternal darkness.

"I see. Fine. I shall deal with him personally. None of you make a move. We must prevent any further losses."

The Dragon Emperor had fully analysed the situation and ended the connection to the Sovereigns.

Soon, there was no more sound.

This world, the gap between dimensions where nothing existed, was quickly filled up by empty silence. To the Sovereigns, this place was no different from hell itself, as there was nothing here to destroy.

That was why...

That was why, the Sovereign of Destruction, born from the darkness with a singular purpose of destroying every single existence, did its hardest to escape from this place.

And finally, the day it'd taste the fruit of its labour was literally around the corner.

The Dragon Emperor turned around and issued its command towards the darkness behind it.

"My troops. Ready yourselves for war."

When it did, dozens of Ancient-grade Dragons, hundreds of Dragons, and tens of thousands of Dragonewts hidden within the darkness shot out heated glares from their eyes and roared out in unison.

Waaaaaaahhhh-!!

Chapter 228 Fin.

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---

Read I Alone Level-Up - Chapter 229 online free - Novel Full

Late at night.

Jin-Woo climbed up a nameless hill and settled down on its summit. The bright moonlight illuminated the sea of trees below.

Under this pale light, he could see the Shadow Soldiers going about their business after he granted them free time to do whatever they wanted.

The first thing that caught his attention was Fangs who had already gigantified himself, and the three Dragons.

Dragons, carrying serious expressions, conversed in hushed tones with Fangs for a bit, before whispering something else amongst them. And then, the biggest Dragon stepped out of the group.

'What are they trying to do now?'

He could see that every other Shadow Soldier in the vicinity of the four giants scatter away in panic and thought that the mood was getting a bit suspicious over there.

Soon, though, that big Dragon spat out a long pillar of flames into the sky.

Kuwaaaaaaaah-!!

Fangs smirked after checking out the thickness of the flames and took a step forward as well.

Kuuuuooooooh-!!!

An enormous pillar of flames exploded out from his mouth and rose up high to brightly illuminate the dark night sky. While the High Orcs were whistling and cheering on from the distance, the Dragon's shoulders sagged visibly as he turned around to slink away.

It seemed that they decided to bet on who possessed the stronger flame attack.

However….

'Isn't it cheating to use the Bead of Avarice during such a bet?'

Perhaps knowing that he was in the wrong, Fangs was trying to sneak his Bead of Avarice back into his pocket. His gaze met Jin-Woo's at the last second, though, and he began scratching the back of his head as a sheepish grin formed on his face.

Jin-Woo chuckled good-heartedly at Fangs's thick skin and waved his hand about to signal that there was nothing to worry about.

Fangs grinned and bowed his head towards his liege several times.

What a peaceful sight this was.

Too bad, Jin-Woo wasn't feeling as content as his outward facial expression implied.

He raised his head towards the sky. He could faintly sense the beings from another world getting ever closer to this planet.

He felt their ominous intentions.

He also sensed their strengths.

Jin-Woo's perception, now pushed to unfathomable heights, buzzed and stung from the stimulation received – even if it was only on the level of perceiving blurry, indistinct things beyond the thick veil of fog right now.

'It's unknown just when their approach will become distinct enough for me to see.'

The fact that the battle against them couldn't be avoided weighed heavily on his mind. Jin-Woo fell into deep thought before raising his head again.

Something kept tugging at his mind so he took a closer look, only to find his ant soldiers busy carrying stuff like lumber or stones around.

'….And what are they trying to do now?'

Before he could summon Beru here to ask for clarity, a voice came from behind first.

"It seems that they wish to construct a small-scale lodging that my liege can use to rest more comfortably."

This voice, too smooth for a dude with such a huge physique, belonged to the Grand-Marshal Bellion. Jin-Woo didn't look back and simply nodded his head.

"I guess it was Beru's idea."

The only Marshal in the Shadow Army capable of passionately doing something that no one asked him to was Beru. On the other hand, Igrit did everything asked of him perfectly. As for Bellion….

'….I wonder.'

Jin-Woo knew practically next to nothing about Bellion. The sole bond tying him to Jin-Woo was the former Shadow Sovereign.

Naturally, he was inclined to learn more about his new Grand-Marshal in depth. Perhaps his thoughts had been transmitted, because Bellion wordlessly approached his master and stood behind him.

"My liege. May I inquire as to why you haven't recalled the soldiers back into your shadow?"

Jin-Woo replied, his eyes still surveying the soldiers.

"I figured that they might be feeling too caged up. I mean, you guys had been stuck inside the place called the gap between dimensions for a long time before arriving here, right?"

Bellion didn't say anything for a while as if that answer was a bit beyond his expectations. So, Jin-Woo spoke to him first, instead.

"Aren't you saddened by the fact that you won't be able to meet the former Shadow Sovereign…. Osborne, again?"

Jin-Woo was painfully reminded of what it felt like to lose someone precious to you only a few days ago while watching his father disappear.

Bellion's emotions should be similar to that. It wasn't difficult for Jin-Woo to understand the sense of loss the loyal Grand-Marshal must've been feeling.

"I've been protecting the former liege's side from the moment he decided to stop the Rulers rebelling against the Absolute Being. And after he acquired the power to rule over death, I was the very first one to volunteer to become his loyal soldier."

Bellion explained himself in a calm manner, his voice unwavering.

"I have spent almost an eternity acting as his support, but not even once have I ever questioned his decisions."

"That's not what I was asking you about."

Jin-Woo pointed out accurately to his soldier that he was asking about something else. Bellion took a bit of time to ponder his answer before revealing how he felt with a bit of hesitation.

"I haven't yet given any thoughts on how I feel, my liege."

"That's why I'm giving you this chance. Come on. Take your time and think about it."

What ensued was a lengthy, weighty silence.

From this silent answer, Jin-Woo could sense Bellion's true feelings. Although no words had been spoken, he heard enough to know already. Only then did he look behind at Bellion.

"I wish to know more about Osborne from your perspective. Would you like to tell me?"

"But, my liege. It might be a very long story."

"That's perfect. I was actually in need of a long story to kill some time until I felt sleepy, you see."

Jin-Woo returned his gaze to his front, and Bellion quietly settled down next to his Sovereign.

"This event happened back when I was still a fruit of the World Tree."

"A fruit?? You were… a fruit?!"

"Every single soldier of the heavens is born as a fruit on the branches of the World Tree. It is a truly gigantic tree large enough to blanket the entire sky with its branches alone."

"Huh-uh….."

As Jin-Woo focused on the story with an incomparably grand opening, the night continued to wear on.

Just before sunrise.

Before the darkness had the chance to completely lift up, Jin-Woo was leisurely jogging within the forest. He had developed the habit of running for ten kilometres every morning since from a long time ago.

He knew very well that there was no more Daily Quest available to him, yet his body moved on its own volition regardless.

While drinking in the crisp, cool air of the forest draped in the dawn's light, Jin-Woo finally finished sorting out his thoughts.

'….I should go back.'

He should inform the world on the existences of the eight massive armies that might arrive on this planet at any time now. He needed to tell them that the real war was just around the corner.

Unfortunately, he wouldn't be able to guarantee the safety of everyone. He also couldn't promise whether the world would be able to retain its former appearance or not, either.

That was how stupendously powerful the Dragon Emperor was, as seen from the memories of the former Shadow Sovereign.

The Dragon Emperor and the Army of Destruction led by that guy reduced just about everything before them to piles of ashes. And such creatures set their sights on Earth as their next target to destroy.

That was why, not only him, but the entire world needed to prepare themselves.

The System didn't need to inform him but he still stopped his running precisely on the tenth-kilometre mark. This was yet another habit ingrained in his flesh after doing the Daily Quest almost every single day.

The truth was, though, habits weren't the only things ingrained in his body now. He learned so much about fighting, and also, inherited incredible power to boot.

The final gift left behind by the Shadow Sovereign, who yearned to return to the eternal rest, had now transformed into 'opportunity'.

Jin-Woo turned towards the direction where the rising sun's rays were pointing at. From the ridge of a distant mountain, the morning sun was greeting yet another day.

Jin-Woo was now able to use Shadow Exchange freely. The first place he headed to was inside the building where the Ah-Jin Guild was located.

He chose not to enter the offices straight away, in consideration of his employees' hearts tumbling down to their pits in shock, but thanks to his actions, he ended up running into an unfamiliar woman stepping outside the office's entrance, instead.

Although she was unfamiliar to him, it was as if he had seen her somewhere before, too. She must've felt the same, because, just as they were about to brush past each other, she abruptly turned around and engaged Jin-Woo in a chat.

"Uhm, excuse me. By any chance…."

He wordlessly stared at her. She flinched for some reason and while saying "Never mind" she hurriedly escaped out of his view.

'Well, she was a bit anti-climatic, wasn't she?'

Jin-Woo entered the Ah-Jin Guild offices next.

"Uh?"

"Eh???"

Every single employee froze stiff with their eyes wide open as if they had just seen something they shouldn't have.

'Should I have said good morning while walking in or something?'

With things being like this, there was no point in him entering from the outside of the offices, now was there?

Even before someone had the chance to scold these wayward employees for making such faces when their boss had stepped into the office….

….Yu Jin-Ho finally discovered Jin-Woo and rushed towards him with a bright expression.

"Hyung-niiiim!!"

Before sharing that welcoming greeting, though, Jin-Woo decided to solve his curiosity first.

"Who was that lady walking out of the office just now?"

He was about to add "She seemed way too familiar", but then, Yu Jin-Ho's reply easily solved the mystery and there was no need to say anything else.

"Ah, her? She's my older sister, hyung-nim. I've been avoiding answering my family's phone calls, and she barged in here as a result. By the way, did she inconvenience you or some such….??"

"No, nothing like that."

That was why she came across so familiar – she was Yu Jin-Ho's sibling. Jin-Woo glanced back at the office's exit and nodded his head before asking again.

"What brought her here, though?"

"Oh, that…."

Yu Jin-Ho hesitated for a bit before speaking up while cautiously studying Jin-Woo's reactions.

"Remember, hyung-nim? I was standing next to you just before the super-massive Gate opened up."

"Yeah, you were."

"Looks like that scene was caught on camera, hyung-nim."

Jin-Woo roughly figured out what happened next in his head.

"My family wants me to hand in my Hunter licence and quit doing dangerous stuff since I've become the Vice-Chair of the Ah-Jin Guild."

As he thought. Since the Guild's Master, Seong Jin-Woo, was already a Hunter, there was no strict need for its Vice-Master Yu Jin-Ho to stay as a Hunter, as well.

There was a point to what the boy's family said out of a genuine concern for his welfare. However, Jin-Woo already knew what was on Yu Jin-Ho's mind, so he didn't even try to convince the kid.

'I'm sure he'd say something similar to him wanting to remain as a Hunter and stand next to me.'

Sure, Jin-Woo was responsible for sorting out most of their troubles, but still, they had gone through many life-or-death struggles together and that made Yu Jin-Ho come across as quite praiseworthy in Jin-Woo's eyes. He reached out and quickly ruffled up the boy's hair.

"H-hyung-nim?"

Jin-Woo left behind the flustered Yu Jin-Ho and headed into his office so he could change out of the clothes he'd been wearing for the past few days.

"Hey, I'm gonna use the company car for a bit."

"Oh? Should I drive for you, hyung-nim?"

"Nah, it's fine. I'll be quick."

"Where are you headed off to, hyung-nim?"

"The Hunter's Association."

Yu Jin-Ho urgently tried to stop Jin-Woo as the latter took the keys, but…

"Huh? Hyung-nim, there are reporters camping outside…."

'….So it might get really annoying' – that's what he wanted to say, but Jin-Woo had already escaped out of the office by then.

And sure enough, reporters sacrificing their sleep and food for that one chance at a scoop were camping outside the building and waiting for Jin-Woo to show up, their faces looking wane and gaunt like a crowd of zombies.

Just as their wait had been long, their reaction after discovering him was unbelievably explosive as well.

"Hunter Seong!! It's Hunter Seong!!"

"Hunter Seong Jin-Woo has shown up!"

"Is the camera on??"

However, they couldn't continue yapping for long.

"Uh, uh??"

"Eh, ehhh??"

They all looked down at themselves with expressions of someone not understanding what was happening to them, before shifting their gazes this way and that.

Only then did they realise what was going on. They realised that, not just themselves, but everyone nearby was floating up in the air about ten centimetres off the ground.

"B-but, what the….?!"

Fortunately, this sudden bout of suspicious flight didn't last long.

"Heot!!"

The reporters were all settled back down on the ground at the same time. Too bad for them, Jin-Woo was long gone by then. They quickly exchanged flustered gazes with each other, before waves of helpless laughter broke out.

"Ha, hahah…."

"Well, I'll be."

A phenomenon that rendered them speechless; they now had one more thing to add to the article about Hunter Seong Jin-Woo.

Jin-Woo drove 'Bonggo' straight to the Hunter's Association.

He had called Woo Jin-Cheol ahead of setting off, so he wasn't surprised to see the Association President and the employees waiting for his arrival outside the building.

But, then…

'….What's going on here?'

The look on Woo Jin-Cheol's face was rather suspicious. It was the same story for the employees next to him.

While Jin-Woo was climbing out of the van, Woo Jin-Cheol urgently walked over to him and asked with a trembling voice.

"Seong Hunter-nim…. By any chance, have you heard of the breaking news yet?"

Chapter 229 Fin.

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'….This is so strange.'

Yu Jin-Ho's older sister, Yu Jin-Hui, was returning home empty-handed due to her little brother's stubbornness. As she was driving home, though, she suddenly pulled up to the side of the road and cautiously parked her car there.

Screech.

That man she ran into while exiting the Ah-Jin Guild offices…

'….Hunter Seong Jin-Woo.'

There should be no one in South Korea who didn't know what he looked like. So, even though she had never met him in person until now, it was easy to explain why it felt as if she did.

Someone who didn't sweat over such things would have accepted that explanation and move on. However, she was the eldest daughter of Chairman Yu Myung-Hwan, a man famed for never forgetting a face after meeting a person only once. Although not as sharp as her father, she too didn't forget a person's face that easily.

The contour of Hunter Seong Jin-Woo's face, the one she briefly glimpsed while raising her head as they brushed past each other, came across as distinctly familiar.

'Just when would that be….?'

She combed through her memories until her eyes inexplicably grew extra large.

'Could it have been then?'

Back then, in front of the hospital.

There was that time near the entrance of a certain hospital where her father had been admitted to, when a man possessing the same facial contours brushed past her.

Why didn't she recognise him back then?

Could it have been because her mind was in a mess after her father had collapsed earlier in the day?

'Right, definitely.'

The man leaving the hospital that day simply had to be Hunter Seong Jin-Woo.

And a short while later, she received a phone call telling her that her father, diagnosed to never open his eyes again, had precisely done just that.

Was she even allowed to treat this as a mere coincidence?

Yu Jin-Hui's entire body was suddenly overcome with a case of powerful goosebumps. She quickly pulled out her smartphone and began dialling her father's number.

Beep, beep, beep…

But, before she could finish dialling his number, her fingers came to a stuttering halt.

'What am I even trying to do here….?'

Just because she ran into Hunter Seong Jin-Woo in front of the hospital that day, she somehow ended up linking him to her father's miraculous recovery.

What a grand delusion this was.

Yu Jin-Hui could only scold her logical reasoning that seemed to have taken a leave of absence for a moment there with a long, long sigh. She was about to start the car again, but then…

….With excellent timing, her phone went off.

[Secretary ahjussi.]

After confirming who it was, a smile floated up on Yu Jin-Hui's lips. Without a doubt, her dad became curious about the result of her visit to the Ah-Jin Guild and asked the ahjussi to find out from her.

'Back then or even now, Father just can't be honest with the matters of his kids, can he?'

Yu Jin-Hui swallowed back her laughter and answered her phone.

"Hello?"

– "Hello, miss. It's Secretary Kim."

And so, the conversation proceeded exactly as she imagined it would. But then, just before it was about to end, Yu Jin-Hui thought it'd be a good idea and quickly asked Secretary Kim.

"Ah, ahjussi? By any chance, is dad a close acquaintance with Seong Jin-Woo Hunter-nim?"

– "I beg your pardon?"

Secretary Kim's surprised voice came out from the phone's speaker next.

– "May I inquire as to why you're suddenly asking me that question, miss?"

At this unexpectedly intense response, Yu Jin-Hui panicked slightly and ended up replying while feeling a bit lost.

"It's nothing in particular, but, I remember seeing Seong Jin-Woo Hunter-nim exiting from the hospital on that day, you see. I was wondering if he was also there to visit dad while he was admitted there."

– "Are you saying that Seong Hunter-nim was in the hospital the day the Chairman collapsed, miss??"

"Y-yes. Just before I got the call to inform me that dad had woken up, we brushed past each other in front of the hospital."

– "Are you sure about this, miss? Could it have been someone else, or maybe it was on a different day?"

"No, I'm pretty sure. I couldn't remember who it was because I wasn't thinking straight back then but now…. But, why do you sound so agitated like that, ahjussi?"

– "N-no, miss. It's nothing to worry about. I shall give you a call again later on."

He didn't say the usual 'goodbye, speak to you soon', but 'will call again later'?

'Did I say something wrong?'

Yu Jin-Hui tilted her head in confusion. Before she could put her phone down, though, it rang noisily again. She confirmed who the caller was and her brows rose up just a little.

'….Dad is personally calling me?'

Only after seeing the number for Chairman Yu Myung-Hwan on her phone's screen did she realise that this matter couldn't be simple at all.

Could it be that her father's recovery and Hunter Seong Jin-Woo were related in some way, just as she imagined earlier?

She cautiously answered the call.

"Dad?"

Beijing International Airport.

The biggest and busiest airport in the whole of China was now bustling even more than ever before, all thanks to a huge throng of people present today.

There was only one reason for this. The best of the best Chinese Hunters that went to lend aid to the Koreans were coming back home today, that was why.

It would be the same story in other countries as well, but at least in China, the highly-ranked Hunters were treated as superstars famous enough to summon up a sea of adoring fans wherever they showed up.

And it went without saying that the leader of the support team, the Hunter ranked as Seven-Star, Liu Zhigeng's popularity couldn't be described with mere words alone.

One of the reporters doing her job surveying the atmosphere of the airport spotted Liu Zhigeng and raised her voice.

"Ah! There he is! Liu Zhigeng Hunter-nim has entered the airport's interior!"

Waaaaah-!!

His fans filling up the airport cheered on loudly. While holding his now-trademark pair of longswords in one hand, he waved his other hand lightly towards his adoring fans.

Kyaaaah~!!

Liu Zhigeng's dignified atmosphere that simply oozed the charm of an older man caused the much-younger female fans to bounce up and down and even scream in uncontrollable excitement.

The special team of Hunters followed after their leader and quickly entered the airport next.

Waaaah-!!

The gasps and cries of awe emitted by many onlookers, moved by their emotions after witnessing the Hunters they only got to see through TV screens until then, quickly filled up the airport's vast interior.

Meanwhile, the reporter looked into the camera with the green light switched on.

"Our proud Hunters are now entering the airport, having returned from their trip to support South Korea."

As her bright expression alluded to, the overall result of this trip was being seen as satisfactory from the Chinese government's point of view.

They got to claim that they didn't forsake their neighbouring nation's troubles and also got to save their face when their elite Hunters volunteered to fight against the super-massive Gate in Seoul's skies.

Was that all?

With this particular matter resolving in the way it did, not one Hunter from the special team travelling to lend their support got hurt. They saved face, and also earned some practical benefits, too. Two things rolled onto their lap, so to speak.

Many Chinese clapped their hands in admiration at Liu Zhigeng who personally persuaded China's top Hunters and formed this special team.

However, there would always be those with dissatisfaction regardless of where it was. There were quite a few who tried to slander Liu Zhigeng or South Korea through the anonymity of the internet.

– That Liu Zhigeng b*stard, the Chinese government supported him financially so he can protect China, yet look at him, busy rushing off to Korea instead.

– Does anybody know where Liu Zhigeng's ancestors come from?

– Will someone please go through Liu Zhigeng's bank account? Better make sure that no Koreans paid him off.

– Why would a great nation like ours help out a small country that won't even remember this debt in the future, anyway? We must make sure that an event like this one doesn't happen ever again.

– Good sir, you're so right!

– There's no need for them to go, but since they did, we gotta get compensated properly. I mean, just what is the value of these Hunters making up the special team? How can them going on a volunteer mission even make sense?? Calculate each Hunter's daily wages properly and make the Koreans pay!

– I hear Seong Jin-Woo made a sh*t ton of money after killing Giants in Japan, so he can pay out of his own pocket, then!

Comments that contained rather toxic contents even at a casual glance filled up the live broadcast's ticker tape being updated in real time at the bottom of the screen.

The reporter, subbing for many people and their curiosity, stood before Liu Zhigeng to do her job.

"Many people are cheering you on for your brave decision, Liu Hunter-nim. On the other hand, those questioning why we had to aid the Koreans are also quite a few in number as well. By any chance, do you have anything you'd like to say to them, Liu Hunter-nim?"

Liu Zhigeng took his sunglasses off and glared at the reporter.

"Who is walking around spewing something that stupid?"

"Pardon?"

Not paying any heed to the reporter and her wide-open eyes, Liu Zhigeng continued on with what he wanted to say.

"Are their heads nothing more than decorations? Can't they read a map? Don't they know which country is next if you move your eyeballs up from Korea?"

"Ah…."

"One Giant monster that wasn't stopped in Japan crossed the sea and almost made it onto the Chinese mainland. I heard that the audience rating back then rewrote the history books, so surely, they must've seen it, too."

Liu Zhigeng glared straight at the camera next.

"What I am saying here is that something similar could've happened, but on a far, far greater scale. I and my comrades agreed with that notion and we went there to prevent that from happening."

Liu Zhigeng's torrent of harsh language put an immediate end to the stream of toxic comments.

He continued to speak, his voice rising up higher and his glare getting sharper as if he was addressing the toxic commenters directly.

"If there are people still spewing crap like that, then tell them this. I, Liu Zhigeng, am not confident of stopping an event that Hunter Seong Jin-Woo also failed to stop. That's why we went there to help him out, so if you're unhappy about that, why don't you try and catch monsters with your own…."

Liu Zhigeng continued with his tirade which made his supporters really happy, but then, he abruptly stopped talking for some reason. Could it be that he finally realised the camera was rolling?

Of course not.

Liu Zhigeng was probably the only person in the whole of China capable of pouring out insults and swearing on live TV without worrying about repercussions. But then, someone like him had been rendered utterly speechless as he took a look outside the airport.

Just what could have happened?

The first person to look was the reporter. Next up were the Hunters and their supporting staff behind Liu Zhigeng. And eventually, everyone gathered here in the airport – their gazes all shifted to the outside.

And after witnessing the change, their eyeballs began quaking greatly.

Liu Zhigeng would never get shocked by any ordinary little thing, but he couldn't stop a soft gasp of surprise leak out of his mouth.

"Oh, my god….."

Above Beijing's skies, a massive darkness was slowly descending.

"Seong Hunter-nim…. By any chance, have you heard of the breaking news yet?"

Jin-Woo shook his head.

After the 'raid' of the super-massive Gate, he headed straight to Japan and made it back to Korea only a little while ago before coming to the Hunter's Association straight away. He didn't have any opportunity to check out the news or any mass media coverage, really.

Besides that, if something serious happened while he was away, Yu Jin-Ho would've informed him the first thing after he entered the office.

Seeing how grave the expressions on the faces of the Association employees, even Jin-Woo's own expression hardened.

"Did something happen?"

Woo Jin-Cheol pulled his phone out and showed him the real-time footage being recorded right at that moment.

– "Jesus Christ!! Can you see that??"

– "Holy cow!!"

– "Doesn't that Gate look even bigger than the one generated in Korea?"

Eight super-massive Gates all revealed themselves in various parts of the world. Half in fear and half feeling mystified by this development, people were filming these Gates and uploading the footage on social media. Breaking news poured in from all parts of the world.

Gulp.

The sound of Woo Jin-Cheol swallowing his saliva rang out loudly from Jin-Woo's side. He didn't mind that and continued to watch each and every one of the video clips.

"Hunter-nim… Could these be also….?"

"No, definitely not."

Jin-Woo quickly cut him off. He made sure to drill home the point that these new Gates had no relations to him whatsoever.

Woo Jin-Cheol had been secretly hoping that these Gates would also end up as nothing too serious, so his complexion darkened fast enough to be noticed in real time from that grim reply.

What if hundreds of thousands of monsters poured out from all those Gates, just like how it had been with Seoul?

Isn't that the same thing as announcing the end of humanity?

While Woo Jin-Cheol shuddered from the enormity of it all, Jin-Woo finished watching the footage and spoke to him.

"Let's change our location first."

"Ah, yes."

They quickly got to the Association President's office and settled down on the couches facing each other.

"You said you had something to tell me….?"

Woo Jin-Cheol cautiously spoke, and Jin-Woo replied to him immediately.

"Association President. Do you trust me?"

Woo Jin-Cheol nodded his head.

"Yes, of course, I trust you."

"In that case, I hope you will believe everything I'm about to show you."

"Excuse me?"

Just like how the former Shadow Sovereign had done, Jin-Woo reached out with his index finger and placed it against Woo Jin-Cheol's forehead. The moment his finger touched, darkness filled up the older man's eyes, and countless images brushed past within his vision.

"Heok!!"

Jin-Woo showed the necessary amount of information to the Association President and nothing more. That would be – the Rulers and their plans, as well as the Sovereigns. And then, the armies those Sovereigns were summoning to this world, as well.

"Pant, pant, pant…."

Woo Jin-Cheol had witnessed the powers of these Sovereigns with his own eyes now. Once the images stopped flashing by, he began gasping out breathlessly.

"This, this can't be…. Just how can such a thing…."

Woo Jin-Cheol had believed 'it'.

He believed that God had gifted special powers to a small number of selected individuals in order to safeguard humanity. He believed that this was precisely the reason why Hunters had to fight against the monsters and protect other people.

But, if everything Hunter Seong Jin-Woo had shown him was true, then….

He had been too arrogant. He had made a grave mistake.

Hunters, no, the 'Awakened' were simply the process of cultivating a small number of humans that might survive the aftermath of the true war about to take place.

This was not a war between humanity and Sovereigns. It was a war between Sovereigns and Rulers, two organisations boasting unimaginable might. Indeed, it was they who were going to fight.

However, a huge variable entered into this fray in the form of a certain man.

And now, with the armies of the Sovereigns arriving much faster than expected to this planet, mankind had only one being they could place their hopes on – the unexpected variable.

"How can this be…."

Woo Jin-Cheol's fingertips trembled as he raised his tear-filled gaze.

"Seong Hunter-nim…. Are you planning to fight these things? All by yourself?"

Even if the enemy possessed a powerful force, he couldn't just give up without trying something first now, could he? At least, Jin-Woo had never lived his life in that manner.

That was why he quietly nodded his head.

"Yes."

Woo Jin-Cheol wanted to help him in any shape or form, so he quickly asked.

"In that case, what should we… No, what should I do to help you, Hunter-nim?"

Now that the expected question came out, Jin-Woo calmly replied with the answer he had thought of before arriving here.

"Can you gather the representatives of the world in one location, please?"

Chapter 230 Fin.

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Chapter 231: Chapter 231

The Director of America's Hunter Bureau, David Brennan, was about to go insane with frustration at the moment.

"What did the Korean Hunter's Association say??"

"They haven't made any official announcements yet, sir."

"Then, what the hell are you here for?!"

"….S-sir?"

But, didn't the director summon him into the office? The subordinate could only stand there and blink his eyes. The director's irritation shot up to the top of his head and he loudly yelled out.

"Aren't you supposed to get a reply from the Korean Association President, even if you resort to wringing his neck?! Isn't that your godd*mn job?!"

"I, I'm sorry, sir!"

"Get the hell out of here and find out what the f*ck is going on! Right now!!"

The director chased the Chief of the Intelligence Department out of his office, but, as if his anger hadn't cooled down at all, he continued to seethe for a long time.

The super-massive Gate, judged to be much bigger than the one that appeared in Seoul's skies, had shown up in Canada, an allied nation that shared a border with the United States of America.

It'd not take much time for the flames of destruction spreading from Canada to reach American soil.

In the best possible scenario that he could think of, this Gate crisis would also end in a similar fashion to the one in Seoul's sky. And if the monsters Hunter Seong Jin-Woo commanded fell out from there, then that would be even better.

'However, the real problem is….'

The one holding all the answers, Hunter Seong himself, as well as the Korean Hunter's Association, had been keeping mum until now.

Three hours passed by since the super-massive Gates appeared in various parts of the world. Meanwhile, the American government was demanding an answer from the Hunter Bureau.

'To think, one of the greatest intelligence agencies in America, the Hunter Bureau, has no choice but wait for a reply from the Korean Hunter's Association….'

Just who'd have imagined that such a thing could happen? No wonder the director was anxiously jumping up and down on his spot.

Beep.

The director continued to spew out one sigh after another before noticing that there was a bleeping light on the phone. He snatched the receiver up and barked at it.

"What is it?!"

– "Sir, Mister President is looking for you."

"Tell him I'm not here."

– "B-but, sir??"

SLAM!

The director slammed the receiver down as if he was throwing it away and dazedly stared at the ceiling. But then, the Chief of the Intelligence Department, the guy he just chased out, breathlessly rushed back inside the office.

"Director!"

"How dare you crawl back into my office already!!"

The director yanked the receiver up in order to throw it, prompting the chief to quickly raise his arms up.

"T-the Korean Hunter's Association has sent us a communique!"

Almost instantly, the director's expression did a 180, with a bright smile now etched on his face.

"You see!! All you had to do was just do it!"

The director put the receiver down and approached the chief.

"Okay, so. What did they say?"

"Ah, well, the thing is…. They said that, if we want to learn more about the super-massive Gates, we should go to Korea right away."

Both the director and the Chief of the Intelligence Department wordlessly stared at each other. They remained standing face to face like that for a bit.

Finally managing to grasp hold of the thin thread of his reasoning, the director muttered out a question.

"Who? Who should go there?"

"They say it doesn't matter, as long as it's a representative designated by the government."

At that moment…

Beeeep.

The director noticed yet another light blinking on his phone and picked the receiver up.

– "Director, if you keep avoiding Mister President's call…."

Click.

He quickly put the receiver down and addressed the Chief of the Intelligence Department with a determined expression.

"Tell them I'll be there."

"Sir?"

Since the chief seemed to be confused by something, the director began enunciating every single word so his subordinate could understand him just a bit better.

"I. Will. Go. To. Korea. As. America's. Representative!"

Representatives from every country that received the summons issued by the Korean Hunter's Association quickly climbed aboard the waiting planes.

What an astonishing change this was.

Less than two years ago, Korea's overall Hunter strength was so pathetic that they even lost a newbie rank S Hunter to America. But now, they were summoning the leaders of the world to their doorsteps.

No, only a year ago, they couldn't even take care of the dungeon break on their own territory, Jeju Island, and became a laughing stock in Japan.

But then, with the entrance of a Hunter who had far surpassed the classifications of upper, top, elite, or whatever, and stepped into the ranks of transcendence, everything changed.

The man who made every monster pouring out from one of the super-massive Gates obey him; if it was that man, then he might be able to explain the identity of these super-massive Gates covering up the skies all over the globe.

With that, understanding what happened a few days ago would also come about naturally as well.

The keys to everything were held by just one person. The problem here was, they couldn't use force or concessions to coax the keys out from their opponent this time.

Just who would be able to use force to make him talk, for instance?

Even if you could do something about his individual combat power that defeated a Special Authority-rank Hunter, there was the small matter of a hundred thousand-plus summons right behind him waiting for their turn.

It was an impossible task, in other words.

That was why bigshots perfectly suited for representing their countries such as presidents, prime ministers, premiers, ministers, directors of Hunter-related government bodies, as well as leaders of various Hunter's Associations, were making a move after the Korean Association requested them to come.

"Has there been anyone else informing us of their intentions to come?"

"No, sir. It's still 152 countries, as reported in the morning's briefing, sir."

"Okay."

The Association President Woo Jin-Cheol was personally going through every single report detailing the progress of the situation. The emergency response conference hall outfitted for the raid of the super-massive Gate was coming in handy even now.

"Sir, the representative from Hungary has just touched down in the airport."

"Who's coming from Hungary?"

"Their President, Yadessi Arnor, has personally come, sir."

"D*mn…."

When an important dignitary from overseas came for a visit, a person holding a similar office was supposed to go out to welcome him. That was the established etiquette.

Unfortunately, the Hunter's Association simply lacked the leeway to mind such etiquette every single time at this moment. Association President Woo Jin-Cheol formed a rueful expression for a little while before issuing new orders.

"Guide him to a suitable hotel."

"Yes, sir."

The Association employee replied crisply and was about to turn around to leave, but then, it felt as if he was hesitating about something else. So, Woo Jin-Cheol stopped poring over the documents to raise his head again.

"Mm? Is there something else?"

"Uhm…."

The employee deliberated for a bit more before he summoned up enough courage.

"Sir, what did you hear from Seong Jin-Woo Hunter-nim yesterday inside the President's office? I've never seen you so pale before, you see."

The thing was, this employee got to realise for the first time that a person's complexion could pale to that extent after looking at Woo Jin-Cheol's face yesterday.

Just what sort of a conversation did they share? The employee simply couldn't forget that look on his boss's face for the whole night, so, although he knew he was being impolite, he still had to ask and satisfy his curiosity now.

Sure enough, Woo Jin-Cheol's expression hardened like a rock.

"S-sir, forgive me. I asked you something unnecessary….."

"No, it's not that. I am not feeling unhappy about you asking me."

It was just that, he ended up recalling the scenes that unfolded from Hunter Seong Jin-Woo's fingertip, that was all.

The army of frenzied Dragons rushing out from the other side of darkness. And then, a truly humongous Dragon following after them.

It was so huge, in fact, it seemed to move so slowly as if time had come to a standstill, even though it was flying at a similar sort of speed compared to the rest of the Dragon army.

It possessed an incredible aura that not even the combined might of every single Hunter in the world attacking together at the same time could even scratch. And then, that overwhelming pressure it emitted, something that might easily burn away everything in the world with merely a single breath. That creature possessed both of those.

Simply looking at it made him dizzy.

He didn't want to ever face that thing, regardless of the level of power he could gain, regardless of the promised reward at the end waiting for him.

'I can't do it….'

Because of that, he respected Hunter Seong Jin-Woo even more as the latter wasn't planning to run away but rather, stay and fight, even though he knew that such creatures existed.

'Wait, now that I think about it, what is Hunter Seong Jin-Woo doing right now?'

There was still some time left before the representatives of the various nations would arrive.

Woo Jin-Cheol suddenly became curious as to how Jin-Woo would spend his downtime, so he called out to the employee turning around to leave his office.

"Oh, by the way. Do you know where Seong Jin-Woo Hunter-nim is at the moment?"

"Currently, we believe that he's resting within his family home, sir."

"Ta-da!"

Jin-Woo placed the pot of piping-hot kimchi stew he cooked himself on top of the dining table. Jin-Ah's expression brightened in an instant.

"Wow, smells so good!"

On the other hand, mom looked rather apologetic for letting her busy son cook her food like this.

"I should've done this, you know…."

Jin-Woo grinned and replied in an unhurried manner.

"I just wanted to show you the cooking skills I got to polish in the last couple of years, Mom."

Jin-Woo pleaded and persuaded her, and finally managed to wrestle the control of the kitchen away from his mom. This was his ambitious end result.

Swept up by her son's continuous encouragement that she should have a taste, his mother smiled and picked up her spoon.

"Fuu-."

She carefully blew on the hot stew and placed a spoonful inside her mouth. Her eyes opened into a round shape almost right away. Jin-Ah began boisterously yapping on from her side.

"Mom, how was it? It's really good, right?"

"Oh my goodness."

Seeing how his mom looked surprised, Jin-Woo couldn't help but strut around a bit.

"I also didn't know that oppa had a talent in cooking, you know? Mom, try this one, too. Oppa is really good at making side dishes."

While his sister was relentlessly praising his cooking skills while even forgetting to wipe the bits of rice off her lips, Jin-Woo noticed that his mother's expression was slowly changing for some reason and carefully asked her.

"Mother?"

She gently set her spoon aside and asked back.

"Jin-Woo…. Isn't there something I should be worried about?"

Jin-Woo did his very best to maintain a bright expression and played dumb.

"What do you mean by that, Mom?"

"Your dad, he used to prepare meals for me whenever he was planning to participate in dangerous missions, you see."

Her son had never done something like this, even when he was about to head to Japan in order to deal with those Giant monsters, or even when that gigantic Gate opened up in Seoul. But now that he did, his mom began to get worried all of a sudden.

A woman's intuition – no, it was more to do with a mother's intuition, instead.

'Like father, like son, is it. I even resemble him in things like this, too….'

Jin-Woo very briefly spat out his complaint that wasn't really a complaint in his head and shook his head towards his mother.

"There's no such thing, Mom."

Whether she wanted to remain as a source of strength for her son as he tried to force a smile on his face, or maybe she really bought his excuse, it was hard to tell. But still, she smiled in reply and picked up her spoon again.

Jin-Ah had been observing the conversation between her oppa and her mom while lightly biting the end of her spoon, before breaking out into a grin herself and resuming her meal.

Around the time the meal was coming to an end…

[My liege.]

….He heard Bellion's voice.

[As you have commanded, soldiers are now in position.]

'Got it.'

As if he was waiting for this chance, Beru also raised his voice.

[Oh, my king. The lodging specifically prepared for you has been completed as well.]

'…..Sure thing. Thanks.'

He didn't ask it to be built, in the first place, though.

Jin-Woo finished receiving the reports from his Marshals and slowly got up from his seat.

"Thanks for the meal."

But then, his hands reaching down to pick up the empty plates came to an abrupt halt after sensing the noises coming from the outside.

'Footsteps of four people….'

He could also hear their hearts racing wildly from excitement, too. Although such categorisation didn't mean anything to him, all four of them were not Hunters but regular people.

'What could this be?'

Surely, there wouldn't be any insane robber wanting to attack the house of a rank S Hunter, now would there?

Also, the entrance of the apartment building was being guarded by the agents from the Monitoring Division due to the consideration from the Association President Woo Jin-Cheol, so no reporters could come up here, either.

Jin-Woo couldn't figure it out, and soon, his ears were greeted by the sounds of the doorbell.

Ding-dong.

"Let me answer that."

He quickly dissuaded his mother from getting up and headed over to the front door.

Clunk.

The first thing he saw after opening the door was three well-built young men kitted out in black suits as if they were from some intelligence agency or some such.

'Doesn't look like they are from the Hunter Bureau, though….'

Jin-Woo scanned their attire briefly before calmly asking them.

"Can I help you with something?"

When he did, the trio of well-built young men stepped aside and another man standing behind them slowly moved to the front.

"Seong Hunter-nim… I apologise for coming to see you unannounced like this. But, can I speak to you in private for a little while?"

Jin-Woo recognised who it was and his voice rose up a little.

"…..Chairman Yu Myung-Hwan?"

Chapter 231 Fin.

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His heightened emotion was all-too-clear to see on Chairman Yu's face.

Regardless of what he wanted to say, it shouldn't be discussed here. Jin-Woo remembered his mom and little sister, and took a quick look towards the dining table, before shifting his gaze back to Chairman Yu.

The older man was anxiously waiting for Jin-Woo's reply. After a short deliberation, the latter's lips finally parted open.

"If it's somewhere private to quietly talk, then, well…."

Chairman Yu's expression brightened and a genuine smile quickly formed on his face.

"Allow me to guide you to such a place. Shall we get going, then?"

Jin-Woo went back inside the apartment and told his mom that he'd be out for a bit, put on his coat, and made his way down to the lobby of the building while being accompanied by Chairman Yu and his entourage.

And as expected, the front entrance of the building was occupied by the reporters that had set up a camp there. Most likely, the three well-built young men were Chairman Yu's bodyguards here to overcome the wall of the reporters.

As for those said reporters, they were far too busy shouting out angrily while pushing and shoving against the Monitoring Division's Hunters protecting the entrance.

"What the hell?? How can this make sense? It's fine for the Chairman of Yujin Construction, but we aren't allowed to go inside?!"

"He's a guest coming to visit Hunter Seong Jin-Woo? Why can't reporters be guests, too?! We're also guests from now on!! We're guests!!"

"Aaah, is that so? The biggest financial supporter of the Hunter's Association is okay, but reporters are not, is that it?!"

The reporters crazily pushed and shoved forwards as if they were planning to stampede past the wall of humans were it not for them being Hunters and not regular people.

"Step aside!!"

Things were so bad that the Hunters of the Monitoring Division looked rather pitiable right now.

"Didn't Seong Jin-Woo Hunter-nim announce that he won't do any interviews?!"

"Hey, over there! Step back!!"

"If you wish to visit Hunter-nim's residence, you must go and obtain a permit from the Association first!!"

Since they were up against regular people, they couldn't resort to using their real strengths, so the agents from the Monitoring Division could only sweat profusely under the current circumstances. Jin-Woo studied them with sympathetic eyes and eventually, extended his hands out.

"Uh, uh-uh??"

The reporters began floating up into the air.

"S-save me!"

This time, forget about ten centimetres, Jin-Woo lifted the reporters ten metres up in the air. When he stepped outside the entrance, Hunters quickly bowed their heads to welcome him.

"Seong Jin-Woo Hunter-nim!"

"Hunter-nim!"

Compared to these Hunters who didn't get too surprised by what was happening – as if they were familiar with this whole thing already – the eyes of Chairman Yu and his three bodyguards went extra round from the sheer unbridled shock.

"O-oh, my god…."

The businessman's gaze was fixed to the reporter helplessly flailing in the air. He could see their complexion paling greatly, too. For the first time ever, Chairman Yu felt sorry for these people, even though he often times felt sick and tired of dealing with them in the past.

The person in charge of this batch of the Monitoring Division's agents walked over to Jin-Woo and although there was a troubled expression on his face, his lips began forming a smile, as well.

"Hunter-nim… If you keep doing this, it's going to come and bite us in the rear later."

"Well, they were getting a bit too noisy to be left alone, you see."

"Haha."

The reporters were continuously shouting something out, but even before anyone had noticed it, a barrier made out of magical energy was surrounding them to cut off all sounds made by their mouths.

The person in charge looked up at them for a little while, before asking Jin-Woo.

"How long will you keep them up there this time?"

"I'm thinking about something like five minutes, so that they can cool their heads up there."

The Hunters from the Monitoring Division burst out in laughter after hearing his declaration to rewrite the existing record.

Wahahahah-!

"Hey! Hush!"

The person in charge did his best to suppress his own laughter and chided his subordinates before replying politely back to Jin-Woo.

"I pray that you make sure no reporters are harmed today."

"You don't have to worry about that."

It's been a while since he had become a master in 'Ruler's Authority', or the technique to move Mana to influence an object. Even if he wasn't here, the Mana would safely lower the reporters at a later time.

'Nothing I can do about them feeling a bit sick, though…'

However, not only did they try to barge into his home even though his private details were being protected, they even tried to raise a huge ruckus as well, so this level of a warning shouldn't pose a problem at all.

Screech.

Soon, the waiting limousine Chairman Yu brought along came to a stop before them, and both him and Jin-Woo climbed into the back seat.

The vehicle smoothly glided forward and headed off to Chairman Yu's private residence.

Chairman Yu guided Jin-Woo to the drawing room of his mansion, which should probably be the quietest place they could talk in. They settled down on the couches while facing each other.

"I'd like not to be interrupted during my chat with Seong Hunter-nim."

"Understood, Chairman."

After he sent away everyone near their vicinity, Jin-Woo broke the ice first.

"How did you find out?"

There shouldn't have been any evidence of him helping Chairman Yu out. So, where could he have made a mistake? As Jin-Woo stared with a curious gaze, Chairman Yu began telling him the truth of what happened.

"My daughter saw you leaving the hospital on that day."

If it was Chairman Yu's daughter, then….

'Ah.'

Jin-Woo recalled Yu Jin-Ho's older sister, the one he ran into in front of his Guild office. He thought that she looked kinda familiar back then. But to think, she was the same person as the one he walked past in front of the hospital that Chairman Yu Myung-Hwan had been admitted to.

Realising that the actions he thought were watertight had been undone by a simple coincidence, Jin-Woo could only form a helpless smile.

At the same time, Chairman Yu was carefully studying Jin-Woo's expression, and after seeing that smile, he felt greatly relieved.

'What a relief.'

Even if the deed was done out of goodwill, Jin-Woo tried to hide it so Yu Myung-Hwan was inwardly worried that the young Hunter would get angry at him for exposing the secret like this. He wouldn't even be able to look the other party in the eye if he somehow ended up displeasing his life's saviour.

Thankfully, contrary to his worries, Jin-Woo didn't look unhappy at all. Indeed, what a wonderful turn of events this was for Chairman Yu.

"As I expected, it was you, Seong Hunter-nim."

"Yes, it was."

Jin-Woo didn't try to deny it.

The moment he heard the answer straight from the person, Chairman Yu's eyes, locked onto Jin-Woo, shook about greatly.

Up until now, he lost count of just how many people had tried to get in his good books because they wanted something from him. Some of them didn't even bother to put in any effort whatsoever and simply reached out, hoping to get a hand-out somehow.

But then, what about this young man before his eyes?

He saved a person's life. No, he saved the life of the top executive of the biggest corporation in the country, yet he wasn't asking for anything in return.

If Chairman Yu's daughter didn't see him and simply walked on by, he would never have found out how he recovered from that illness for the rest of his life.

Yu Myung-Hwan was famous for being a poker face, but just this once, his expression betrayed how emotionally moved he was.

"But, why….?"

He had to say something in order to suppress his overwhelming emotions.

"Why did you help me?"

Back then, even though the demand for a helping hand was made, accompanied by a huge financial incentive, Jin-Woo simply rejected it while saying that he didn't possess such powers.

So, what made him change his mind, then?

Yu Myung-Hwan brought Jin-Woo here pretty much to ask that one question, even at the risk of offending him.

Ba-dump, ba-dump, ba-dump….

His heart was beating faster and faster as time went by; every passing second felt as long as ten minutes before Jin-Woo chose to make his reply.

And that he finally did.

"I judged you to be a trustworthy person, that was why."

At that rather unexpected answer, Chairman Yu's brows rose up higher.

"But…. What does that mean?"

"If you were the type of person who did whatever it takes to accomplish your goal, then I wouldn't even have considered risking it for your sake."

"By that, you mean…. Is it because I never tried to use my son, Jin-Ho?"

"That's correct."

Jin-Woo nodded his head.

As expected of the leader of a global corporation, Chairman Yu instantly figured out what Jin-Woo was trying to say here.

It was true that Yu Myung-Hwan did possess the one trump card that could have made Jin-Woo act. And that would be his son, the Vice-Chair of the Ah-Jin Guild – Yu Jin-Ho.

However, after his proposal was rejected, he didn't obsessively cling on and cleanly backed away. Meaning, he believed in Jin-Woo's words of not possessing the cure.

An eye for an eye, a tooth for a tooth – Jin-Woo religiously adhered to this principle so, to Yu Myung-Hwan who believed in him, he replied in kind as well.

Although, it did take a bit of time to figure out whether the businessman was worthy of his trust or not.

'Still, I didn't make a wrong decision.'

Jin-Woo formed a grin.

At the same time…

Drip….

A single teardrop trickled down Yu Myung-Hwan's eye.

"I'm not sure how to express my gratitude to you."

He quickly wiped the tear away with the back of his hand and stared at the young Hunter with a determined expression on his face.

"Please, allow me to repay this debt, even if it's only half, no, half of that half. I beg of you."

Only by doing this, the debt of gratitude he felt in his heart would lessen just a tad. Yu Myung-Hwan quickly carried on.

"Is there anything you'd like, Hunter-nim?"

"It's not that I want something, but…."

Yu Myung-Hwan's ears perked up right away. If Hunter Seong Jin-Woo wanted money or something else, he was planning to do everything in his power to make it happen.

However, Jin-Woo's answer was a bit different to what Yu Myung-Hwan had been thinking of.

"If something ever happens to me…. Can you look after my mother and my sister?"

That was his reply after a short bout of hesitation.

To prepare for the worst-possible-case scenario that may or may not happen, Jin-Woo asked for the favour of his family being taken good care of. He may have already amassed enough money, but unfortunately, money wouldn't be able to protect them from certain things.

Surely, Chairman Yu Myung-Hwan would prove to be a dependable buffer during those times.

"….Are you really okay with only that, Hunter-nim?"

"Yes, I am."

It was difficult to imagine something untoward happening to Hunter Seong Jin-Woo, but since he decided to say yes to whatever demand the young man would make, Chairman Yu Myung-Hwan didn't even hesitate and nodded his head right away.

"I give you my word."

The lengthy conversation had come to an end here.

"Well, then…."

Jin-Woo tried to get up to leave.

Yu Myung-Hwan watched him and felt rueful about the fact that their conversation had come to an end. He then belatedly realised how much he liked this young man named Jin-Woo.

If Hunter Seong Jin-Woo could become a part of his family…..?

Never once did Yu Myung-Hwan entertain the idea of using his beloved daughter as a tool in an arranged marriage, but he still found himself asking the question anyway.

"By any chance, are you dating someone at the moment?"

If it was this young man, then he'd not feel short-changed by giving away Yu Jin-Hui – for the first time ever, Yu Myung-Hwan had met a young man who made him feel this way.

Too bad, though, Jin-Woo grinned brightly as his reply.

"Actually, there is someone I like."

"Oh…."

It was then, Yu Myung-Hwan realised that he just asked a really embarrassing question and his face reddened visibly.

That was how impressive this young man was.

However, Chairman Yu wasn't someone who'd obsess over things he couldn't obtain. He soon raised his head back up and with a smile on his face, bade him goodbye.

"I shall pray that the promise I made today won't ever come true in the future."

Jin-Woo smiled in reply and stood up fully from his seat.

"I'll do my best to make sure of that, too."

Now that all of his Stat values had reached their maximum attainable limit, the only area left to improve was his ability to command his Shadow Army.

Jin-Woo returned to the entry prohibited area in Japan in order to get his final preparation ready.

The uninhabited sea of forest stretched on forever in his view.

Grand-Marshal Bellion had split the Shadow Army to three separate groups as per Jin-Woo's instruction and assigned the commands of each to himself, Igrit, and Beru.

Jin-Woo nodded his head while looking at the three separate groups of his soldiers below the hill. He guessed from the aura emitted by the soldiers below that a great deal of thought had been given to creating the balance of strengths between the three groups.

The Grand-Marshal bowed his head after meeting Jin-Woo's gaze. It seemed that this guy was also the perfectionist-type like Igrit.

On the other hand….

'This guy….'

Jin-Woo turned around to take a gander at the so-called 'lodging' built on the summit of the hill.

"Beru, get over here. Now."

Whoooosh-!!

Beru dashed forward from the bottom of the hill right up to the summit in the blink of an eye and knelt down before Jin-Woo.

"Oh, my king!"

"Head, floor."

Even before those words finished coming out of his king's mouth, Beru quickly rammed his head on the ground. Right away, Jin-Woo yelled out.

"How can you call this a small 'shelter'? Am I supposed to take a break inside that?! Setting aside its size, is this even a shelter, to begin with?!"

"Kiiehhk…."

Beru cowered from Jin-Woo's loud shouting and replied with the voice of a guy being wrongfully accused.

"For a lodging befitting my king, at the bare minimum, it must be…."

Jin-Woo slowly massaged his forehead. He had completely overlooked the small fact that ants specialised in building 'houses'.

Indeed, he should've seen just what the human-sized ants possessing greater physical strength than superhumans might end up creating in the name of a mere 'house'.

He slowly raised his lowered face and ended up being overwhelmed by the dignified air of the so-called 'small shelter' once more.

A massively-tall fortress built out of white stone – so it could be spotted pretty easily from afar – stretched from this part of the land all the way to over there. It was also dizzyingly tall that, while trying to see where its roof was, his neck actually began aching instead from looking up for too long.

Jin-Woo's head pulsed painfully again after witnessing the fruit of the ants' unnecessary devotion. He didn't even order them to do this, yet here they were.

He roughly massaged his temples before groaning out and asked another question.

"What about that black flag flapping around at the end of this castle…. That, just what were you thinking when putting that up there??"

It was then, Bellion hurriedly ran to where his master was and suddenly planted his head on the ground alongside Beru.

Boom!

Jin-Woo was rendered speechless for a while and alternated his dazed gaze between Bellion and Beru. He slowly turned around and shouted out.

"My soldiers! Now, commence with the combat drill!"

With that, the thunderous roars of the Shadow Soldiers powerfully reverberated throughout the land.

Waaaaaaaaaaahhhh-!!!

Chapter 232 Fin.

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One day. Two days. And then, three days.

It had been three days since the super-massive Gates revealed themselves to the world. Civil unrest quickly broke out in the countries with the Gates and their neighbouring nations, and they grew more violent with each passing day.

That was because none of these countries had come up with a viable response yet.

The enraged mob of citizens filed out onto the streets and went on violent demonstrations to force their governments to come up with a countermeasure.

Meanwhile, news stations emphasized the severity of the situation by continuously showing the alternating images of the demonstrators, growing in number every day, and the giant Gate floating silently high up in the sky.

– It has been over 75 hours since the phenomenon now referred to as the super-massive Gates have appeared in the sky. However, the government hasn't….

– Over there! As you can see, the demonstrators carrying around the pickets that read 'Answer us, Governments' have…..

– The number of demonstrators is increasing with every passing day, and the worries are that this volatile atmosphere is at the breaking point….

This was a completely different spectacle compared to when the super-massive Gate first appeared in South Korea. The experts were quick to figure out why things unfolded differently there. The reason was pretty simple.

On one hand, the quick-witted response from the Korean Hunter's Association had played a part. As soon as the Gate appeared, they summoned every single Hunter in the country to the capital city.

The other part had to do with the psychological sense of security felt by the Koreans from the fact that their country possessed the greatest Hunter alive that surpassed all Special Authority-rank Hunters.

One of the experts invited to speak in a specially-organised TV show said this in front of the camera.

"Hunter Seong Jin-Woo almost single-handedly took care of two rank S dungeon breaks. Ants and Giants – in a span of a single year, he pretty much resolved two of the most infamous incidents in history with his own hands."

There was no need to even bring up the Giant-type monsters of Japan; the world's attention was already boiling red-hot during the Jeju Island ant raid.

What more could be said on that subject when the TV station awarded with the exclusive broadcasting rights had reputedly earned revenue equalling the last three years' profit in one go?

Nod, nod.

The emcee's head nodded all by itself while the expert lightly tapped his temple with his index finger.

"And that's why the Korean citizens naturally believe this in their minds. They believe that, regardless of the danger threatening them, Hunter Seong Jin-Woo will show up and deal with it."

That was precisely the reason why, even after a super-massive Gate appeared on the skies of a capital city with over ten million souls living in it, people were able to remain relatively calm about it.

The expert emphasized until his throat was hoarse that the existence of Hunter Seong Jin-Woo was an immeasurable blessing to the Republic of Korea and its people.

Unfortunately, it was obvious that not every nation on Earth would be blessed with such luck. The number of truly excellent Hunters was very low, and they were not spread out evenly, either.

Many nations within the territory of influence of those super-massive Gates possessed pretty lacklustre Hunter systems, so it was only obvious that the unrest would continue to grow larger.

It reached the point where people were demanding vociferously that more high-ranked Hunters should be hired at the cost of forking out higher taxes, even if it was just one more combatant being added to their defences.

Meanwhile, many governments could barely hide their shock when many wealthy folks, the very same ones that gnashed their teeth come tax collection season, pledged to support them financially.

And so, as the sense of impending crisis continued to heighten, the bigshots representing their respective nations gathered in the capital city of Korea, Seoul, to answer the request of the Korean Hunter's Association.

What they wanted from this trip was just one thing. And that would be to find out the information regarding the eight super-massive Gates that appeared simultaneously all around the world.

Since the information was to be provided by Hunter Seong Jin-Woo, the man who managed to achieve a rather unbelievable result from the first super-massive Gate, their expectations were understandably huge.

"Whew-woo…."

A certain man spat out a hushed sigh. It was none other than the director of the Hunter's Bureau, David Brennan, who had opted to travel to Korea after being harassed by his own president. He dabbed away the cold sweat soaking his forehead with a handkerchief and took a look at the faces of everyone sitting around him.

'….So many of them came.'

Presidents, government ministers, Guild Masters, Chairpersons from various Hunter's Associations…..

The director of the Hunter Bureau knew the faces of most of these people. They indeed were all bigshots that just their names alone would be enough to get them recognised by everyone in their respective nations.

While seeing the flashes of nervousness in their faces, the director wiped the sweat pooling at the edge of his chin.

'Regardless of who it is, everyone's feeling the heat, huh.'

They may all look calm and collected on the surface, but they also knew that inwardly, every single one of them here was anxiously stomping their feet. Well, even the director himself was feeling the same way, after all.

How wonderful would it be if Hunter Seong Jin-Woo stepped forward to say that "This Gate crisis should end painlessly and there's nothing to worry about"?

If only he could deliver that message to the higher-ups; the POTUS busy pressuring him would instantly back off, then. It would be a wonderful opportunity to restore his damaged pride, in other words.

However, if the truth was completely the opposite, then….

The director felt his heart tumble to the pit of his stomach. He swallowed back his dry saliva and confirmed the time. His wristwatch was precisely pointing at 02:55.

Five minutes remained until the announcement time.

Tick, tock….

While listening to the ticking of the second hand that sounded unusually loud for some reason today, the director raised his stiff face.

Around the same time.

Having finished inspecting the Shadow Army just now, Jin-Woo asked Bellion next to him.

"What happens to the armies with no Sovereigns leading them?"

"Marshals of those armies will take over the command of the soldiers in place of the dead Sovereigns."

He proceeded to add more explanation that the army of Giants was being led by its Marshal instead, after their king had been captured by the Rulers.

Jin-Woo nodded his head in understanding. A total of eight Gates appeared around the world. The phenomenon of Gates for Sovereign-less armies being generated could be explained now if the Marshals were commanding them.

It was then, another question abruptly popped up in Jin-Woo's head.

"If I die, do you get to command the Shadow Army as its Grand-Marshal?"

Bellion shook his head.

[Our lives are tied to yours, my liege. If you pass on, we will also return to the void.]

As long as their master's head was attached to the right place, not one soldier's life would be extinguished – the strong point of the Shadow Army was the loyalty of its soldiers that moved only for the sake of their master while not even caring about their own lives.

But, if one were to flip that around, the moment their master was met with a serious problem, then the Shadow Army would be finished right then and there.

The pros and cons basically worked in the same manner as two sides of a coin. Depending on the situation, the good could become bad, while the weakness could become a strength, instead.

Surely, his enemies wouldn't overlook that point, now would they? Didn't that mean he could exploit that, too?

Jin-Woo fell deeper into his thoughts, and a glint briefly flickered in his eyes. A different voice then addressed him from the other side.

"My liege."

It was Igrit.

"We do not stand a chance in a full-scale war, my liege."

A baritone voice filled with power and conviction, spoken in a low, deep tone. It'd been a while since he started conversing with Igrit, but Jin-Woo still hadn't really gotten over that voice.

Seriously now, he was kitted out in that lightweight, agile-looking armour, so why did he have to possess such a manly voice??

According to Igrit, he was supposed to be the greatest knight ever in the history of humanoid creatures, before he got reborn through the powers of the previous Shadow Sovereign, so it wasn't all that hard to understand where that ultra-high level of manliness in his voice came from, but still…

'What am I supposed to do about this sense of disharmony….?'

Whether he knew about Jin-Woo's predicament or not, Igrit continued to calmly speak of his concern.

"Unlike the former Shadow Sovereign, who grew doubtful about the battles against the Rulers and stopped shoring up his army, other Sovereigns didn't hold back and continuously enhanced and increased the scale of their armies."

"How big do you think is the difference in the combat force?"

This time, Bellion replied.

"We can not be certain, but it could be well over one hundred times larger."

Only Beru had no way of knowing the scale of other armies, so he quietly listened to the conversation of his master and the other Marshals.

Jin-Woo's expression stiffened.

Didn't that mean, in the best-case scenario, his enemies possess over ten million soldiers?!

"Hundred times, huh…."

Jin-Woo mulled over the numbers before replying in a low voice.

"I never was planning for all-out, full-scale warfare, anyway."

What he meant here was that he never entertained the idea of full-scale warfare while discarding the advantage of his army, where one could become 'all', or that 'all' could revert back to being one.

Even now, Jin-Woo's mind was continuously picturing the battles taking place in the future. After a short bout of silence….

Brrr… Brrr….

Jin-Woo pulled out his smartphone vibrating noisily inside his pocket.

He answered the call, but even before he could say something, the familiar voice came out from the device's speaker.

– "Hunter-nim? It's me, Woo Jin-Cheol."

"Ah, yes. Hello."

– "As you have requested, representatives from various nations have gathered in the auditorium. Where are you now, Hunter-nim?"

Before answering that, Jin-Woo quietly looked behind him.

The hints of heavy fighting were everywhere; the ground that was horrifyingly torn up, gouged out, and blown to bits extended as far as his eyes could see. All those trees forming the green forest, the sea of trees, had evaporated without a trace.

This was the end product of the Shadow Army fighting a mock battle after splitting up into three groups. The earth fortified by Mana had been completely overturned from horrifying impact forces.

The Japanese Hunter's Association was warned beforehand by Jin-Woo and so, they got to watch the destruction of the entry prohibited area through their spy satellite. All those watching, though, simply couldn't hide their shock at the collision of enormous amounts of magical energy captured by their satellite.

The power they witnessed, that was the true strength of the Shadow Army. And Jin-Woo also got to witness that strength.

Through this experience, he got to accurately assess the depths of his army's combat prowess. The end result was completely satisfactory.

Jin-Woo stopped looking behind and shifted his gaze back to his front. Over one hundred thousand soldiers were kneeling on the ground in front of Jin-Woo, waiting for their liege's next command and not even moving a muscle.

When Jin-Woo's reply didn't arrive even after a long pause, the Association President Woo Jin-Cheol cautiously inquired over the phone.

– "….Hunter-nim?"

The corners of Jin-Woo's lips arched up and he replied as matter-of-factly as he could.

"Ah, yes. I've just arrived there now."

"You've arrived? But when….?"

Woo Jin-Cheol had ordered his subordinates to inform him the moment Jin-Woo arrived in the venue, so he had asked back in a puzzled voice while turning around. But at that very moment….

He got to discover Jin-Woo standing right behind him.

"Keok!"

Woo Jin-Cheol unwittingly spat out a surprised gasp and blinked his eyes for a moment there, before a helpless grin formed on his lips. He quietly pocketed his phone away.

"….I guess that question has lost much of its meaning now. You know, asking you where you are."

Jin-Woo reciprocated that smile and shrugged his shoulders once as his reply.

Currently, they were standing inside the waiting room of the auditorium. Beyond that door, representatives from various countries filling up every available seat were waiting for Jin-Woo's entrance with bated breaths.

Woo Jin-Cheol confirmed the current time. The clock on his phone's screen informed him that there were still two minutes left until the announcement time. Meaning, there was a little bit of time left.

He felt this unexplainable sense of ease and raised his head.

"Hunter-nim, are you really planning to tell the truth to these people?"

"Yes, I am."

"Once they learn of the truth, there could be huge unrest breaking out everywhere. And more than a few nations won't be able to deal with such unrest."

"I know that."

That would be an obvious development. Even the Rulers knew that things would unfold this way and hid their intentions right until the end.

However, even if everything were to come to an end through the upcoming event, shouldn't one know what's happening to them, at least?

'I mean, it's one hell of an unfair thing not knowing what killed you, isn't it?'

That's why Jin-Woo decided to tell the truth to everyone. It wouldn't only be him that might need time to prepare themselves in the heart, after all.

Seeing Jin-Woo's determined expression, the Association President Woo Jin-Cheol could only nod his head.

"I see. If that's what you've decided, then…."

Jin-Woo walked past Woo Jin-Cheol and approached the door leading to the auditorium, but then, the latter discovered something and hurriedly called out.

"Excuse me, Hunter-nim!"

Jin-Woo turned around with a confused expression, and Woo Jin-Cheol formed a sheepish expression as his reply and opened his mouth.

"There are quite a lot of reporters waiting for you outside."

"….Oh."

Jin-Woo looked at his current duds.

He had been staying in the entry prohibited area for the past few days to control his soldiers, so the state of his clothing was rather wretched at the moment.

'What am I to do now….?'

The thing was, though, he didn't want to make a big deal out of a simple matter like changing clothes by moving to another location, etc, etc.

But then, he couldn't buy whatever outfit available in the Store anymore and change into that, as he had done in the past.

'….Hang on a bit.'

Buy clothes from the Store?

With the System gone, he could no longer utilise the services of the Store, but the power that the System used to sustain itself belonged to the Shadow Sovereign, to begin with.

In that case, creating clothing and putting it on was, theoretically speaking at least, eminently possible for him. At that moment, Jin-Woo recalled the sole clothing type he should be able to create right now.

Shu-ahahk!

In the blink of an eye, the waiting room was suddenly filled up by the black smoke, and as if it was alive, it quickly enveloped Jin-Woo's body.

"Heok?!"

Woo Jin-Cheol jumped up in fright and took several steps back in a hurry. As his brows shot up real high….

The black smoke had transformed into a set of jet-black armour on Jin-Woo.

"How about this?"

Now normally, Hunters always made sure to wear armour in order to protect themselves from the monsters and their preternatural powers.

When these extraordinary-looking equipment were added on top of a powerful Hunter like Jin-Woo, an overwhelming pressure seemed to automatically ooze out from him.

Woo Jin-Cheol was completely suppressed by this amazing aura and could barely move his lips to make his reply.

"It's… it's really something else."

Jin-Woo formed a thin smile.

"I'll take that as a compliment."

Jin-Woo turned back towards the door and slowly entered the auditorium. Almost in an instant, all unimportant noise disappeared within the venue.

'Hunter Seong Jin-Woo….!!'

'He's finally here.'

The attention of every single one gathered here focused on one man standing on the rostrum, Jin-Woo. He took a sweeping look at their faces and calmly organised several thoughts currently crisscrossing inside his brain.

He was here to inform these folks on what was to come – about the arrival of eight great armies desiring the destruction of this world. Also, the fact that each and every one of these armies being made up of soldiers from the Chaos World, ones that humanity would find very difficult to fight against.

They were waiting for the official announcement with those anxious expressions etched on their faces. After learning of the truth, though, what would their expressions change to next?

The tension tightening around their hearts was transmitted in full to Jin-Woo and his own expression darkened as a result.

Everyone held their breath and listened to his voice. The auditorium might have been quiet before, but now, it was even quieter than ever.

A short while later – Jin-Woo didn't need the aid of a microphone and simply loaded Mana to his vocal cords to speak.

"I know that things will become incredibly difficult for everyone."

His voice seemed to softly ripple within the eerily-silent auditorium.

Jin-Woo's ears could pick up on the noises of representatives swallowing their dry saliva along with their violently pounding hearts.

Funnily enough, the louder their heartbeats became, the calmer Jin-Woo's own heart got. The light shining in his eyes became more determined than before.

'….Am I actually feeling calmer than before?'

From a certain moment on, Jin-Woo had completely regained his composure. He calmly addressed his audience with these closing words.

"However, no one alive will be able to avoid fighting the upcoming battle. Those creatures will appear before you, and they will try to destroy everything you hold dear."

Chapter 233 Fin.

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How were they supposed to take this?

Once Jin-Woo's lengthy explanation came to an end, an uncontrollable fluster floated up on the faces of representatives. Even the carefully-chosen contingent of reporters forgot their jobs and were too busy looking at each other's reactions.

Noisy, noisy….

The auditorium that used to be draped in eerie silence was now filled up with loud chatter in an instant.

Eventually, someone unable to beat back his fear-filled curiosity and shouted at Jin-Woo.

"Y-you, you expect us to believe that story?!"

How could anyone believe the story of horrifying creatures capable of destroying everything on this land creeping every closer to this planet?

That voice of an elderly man was now filled with a palpable sense of desperation.

"Evidence…. Show me the evidence! Without that, I won't ever believe you!!"

"T-that's right!"

"Aren't your claims far too absurd to be believable?!"

"Out of the blue, you tell us that hundreds of creatures similar to Kamish will show up, but how can that even make sense?!"

Humans, when facing a reality that they couldn't deal with, would automatically resort to denying it or get angry as their defence mechanism. These representatives from various nations wilfully forgot about the many miracles Jin-Woo had shown them so far, and directed their furious words of denial towards him standing on the rostrum.

Too bad for them, just one swish of his hands was enough to silence them immediately.

"Heok!!"

Dozens of Gates suddenly appeared right behind Jin-Woo.

Using the powers of the Sovereign, he generated several tens of Gates, which were basically a doorway connecting different dimensions.

'I don't need to create Gates since travelling through shadows is faster for me, but still….'

There should be nothing more efficient for making these people understand than this method. He could generate Gates the size of a person without breaking a sweat.

Jin-Woo stopped looking at the Gates and shifted his gaze to his audience.

Sure enough, not a single person out of the gathered representatives, reporters, and even the staff members of the Korean Hunter's Association, who trusted in Jin-Woo's words implicitly, could close their slack jaws shut, never mind averting their gazes elsewhere.

"Those…. Aren't those all Gates?"

"B-b-but, how can such a thing even be….??"

'Hunter Seong Jin-Woo can create Gates, and not only that, several of them at the same time in front of all these people?'

The eyes of everyone present began trembling powerfully, as if there was an earthquake happening right now.

The director of the Hunter Bureau, David Brennan, continued to rub his eyes in utter disbelief. He was someone who personally witnessed the Dragon 'Kamish' take its first step in this world as the dungeon break unfolded, but even then, he just couldn't believe this.

'As I thought, it's working.'

Jin-Woo was satisfied by their reactions after witnessing the powers of the Sovereign and closed the Gates behind him.

As if what happened only a second ago had been a hallucination, every single Gate simply vanished without a trace, faster than the witnesses could blink.

'Ah, no!!'

At the same time, a reporter was hit with a sensation of his heart tumbling to the pit of his stomach. He quickly asked the other reporters next to him.

"H-has anyone taken pictures of those Gates?? Doesn't matter if it's a camera or a phone, did anyone record that phenomenon??"

"….Ah!!!"

Reporters began despairing right there and then, some hugging their heads while some spat out painful groans. It happened too fast, and they were all too stunned out of their minds, so they had momentarily forgotten to take the visual proof of what happened here.

As if the unrest unfolding within the ranks of the reporters was the signal flare, voices of shock and fluster exploded out from all corners of the auditorium next.

Noisy, noisy….

Loud noises shaking one's eardrums filled up this huge open interior. But, then…

"Hunter Seong Jin-Woo!!!!"

The British representative suddenly shot up from his seat and managed to attract everyone's attention via his shrill cry.

"Could it be that you're one of them?! The creatures that appeared from the first super-massive Gate, weren't they summoned here to kill us all, to begin with?!"

His utterances caused pretty much everyone here to freeze up instantly. They unwittingly ended up imagining the worst possible situation, that was why.

A vague, formless fear of Hunter Seong Jin-Woo being on the enemy's side began spreading among the hearts of these people like an infection. Well, didn't he just display the power to create Gates that drove so many humans to their deaths and grips of terror right before their eyes?

Jin-Woo wordlessly stared at the British representative for a while. Only then did the Briton finally realise the mistake he just made.

If Hunter Seong indeed was on humanity's side, then this man sure made an a*s of himself due to his fear, but if the opposite turned out to be true, then didn't that mean it'd be really difficult for him to keep his life now?

"Ah, uh, well…. Of course, I, uh, unreservedly believe in you, Seong Jin-Woo Hunter-nim…."

The complexion of the British representative paled in an instant and the ends of his sentence progressively got smaller and smaller. Jin-Woo spat out a sigh as if he found this whole thing idiotic.

"Fuu."

He did what he came here to do. Jin-Woo didn't particularly feel the need to plead with these people, asking them to believe him.

"Whether you believe my words or not, whether you accept my words or not…. That's your choice. I've finished saying my piece, so everyone, make up your own minds now."

Reporters sensed that the announcement had come to an end, and that allowed them to finally free themselves from the stupefaction they were trapped in due to the continuous assault of one shock after another. Soon, camera flashes urgently exploded forth.

Click, click, click, click, click!!

Jin-Woo took one last sweeping look at the audience members and just as he was about to turn around….

….David Brennan, the director of the American Hunter Bureau, finally decided to break the silence he had been maintaining until then and raised his hand up high.

Jin-Woo recognised him, of course, since they met each other before. He pointed the American out.

"Director Brennan?"

With a hardened expression on his face, the director slowly stood up from his seat. There was no one present here who didn't know the name of the leader of the Hunter Bureau, so almost immediately, another bout of silence descended on the auditorium.

"It's been a while, Seong Jin-Woo Hunter-nim."

He politely bowed his head, and Jin-Woo reciprocated that gesture with a bow of his own. The director continued on from there.

"I understand now what will come out those Gates."

The hundred thousand-plus black monsters that poured out from the first super-massive Gate. Thankfully, they turned out to be the subordinates of Hunter Seong Jin-Woo who had 'coincidentally' inherited the powers of a Sovereign. And he immediately had them submit to him.

And now, today in this place, the truth about other creatures scheduled to make their entrance not being friends of humanity had been revealed in full. In that case, how was mankind supposed to respond to this?

The director tried to calm his shuddering heart and cautiously asked his question.

"What should we do next?"

Jin-Woo quietly studied the director for a little while, before slowly shifting his gaze to take in the faces of every single person present within the auditorium.

Through his eyes, he could feel their worries, anxiety, nervousness, fear, shock, confusion, etc. Indeed, his sensory perception that had far surpassed the limits of a human didn't always prove to be helpful, especially in a situation like this one.

A short while later.

Jin-Woo made up his mind and gave them the best advice he could think of.

"I pray that you get as far away from those Gates as humanly possible. As far as you can. I hope that you evacuate to the furthest location you can find, even if it's only by a little."

The ripples caused by the information Jin-Woo provided were enormous.

It was none other than Jin-Woo who provided the info. A man who created an unbelievable spectacle with the first super-massive Gate and shocked the entire world, had provided them with this knowledge.

People heard the warning about the invasion of huge monster armies that humanity would never be able to fight against, and struck by fear, they began doing whatever they could to distance themselves as far away from the Gates as possible.

Every road was clogged up by evacuating vehicles. Every avenue was filled with ear-bleeding honkings of car horns.

Didn't matter which newspaper one clapped their eyes on, Jin-Woo's visage and the three accompanying words below dominated every single front page.

– Evacuate far away!

Those words were enough to mobilise the entire world.

The thing was, though, when the movement of people become huge in scale, it was only natural that the opposition to that movement would also gain following, as well.

It wasn't as if everyone believed in Jin-Woo's words. Especially so for someone like this Canadian Hunter named Jay Mills, who confidently declared his objections. Incidentally, Canada's Gate was observed to be the largest of the eight super-massive Gates.

"Tell him that he can take his horsesh*t story and shove it."

Invited to say his piece on a program on 'Hunter Channel', the Canadian Hunter began bad-mouthing Jin-Woo in front of the esteemed panel of experts sitting in the studio.

"If I knew Hunter Seong Jin-Woo's personal contact number, I'd have said the exact same thing, eh. If, by any chance, someone who knows him personally is watching this show, I want you to repeat what I just said here. Okay?"

The emcee quickly assumed the standard broadcaster's smile in order to cool down the heated atmosphere.

"Whoa, there. Let's all take a breather, first. Even still, Seong Hunter-nim is one of the very best Hunters in the world, isn't he? Should we really ignore the warning issued by a Hunter of his calibre?"

Jay Mills' Hunter ranking was only about 17th on the list. Even when considering the fact that he was a relative newbie who only started his Hunter career three years ago, there was no way he could be compared to Jin-Woo.

He himself already had acknowledged that difference of class between them. Regardless….

"Yes, of course, Seong Jin-Woo is an incredible Hunter. He possesses enough power to destroy Thomas Andre, and then, all those summoned creatures, too…. However, just because he's an incredible man, that doesn't mean everything he says is credible, am I right?"

"In that case, do you have any evidence that contradicts what Seong Jin-Woo Hunter-nim has said?"

Jay Mills smirked derisively.

"Oh? What about Seong Jin-Woo, then? What evidence does he have?"

While the emcee was left searching for a suitable response, Jay Mills stared straight into the camera and spoke up.

"This is what I think. Seong Jin-Woo was standing right in the front of the Seoul Gate, wasn't he? And that's why all those scary black things knelt down after seeing him standing there. If it was a different Hunter and not him, who knows if those monsters would have submitted to that person, instead?"

Veins began bulging on the Canadian Hunter's neck as he raised his voice – as if he was addressing Jin-Woo who should be at home watching the program.

"Hunter Seong Jin-Woo, you may have scared other people away with your bullsh*t, but let me tell you this. You won't get to monopolise all these Gates. Why? Because, I am not scared by you. Not even by a little bit."

Beep.

The Association President Woo Jin-Cheol switched the TV off.

He quietly put the remote down and shifted his gaze over to where Jin-Woo currently sat.

"Hunters are gathering around Jay Mills in Canada as we speak. It seems that the nations possessing strong Hunter systems, such as India, are preparing for their own raids."

Jin-Woo didn't say anything and simply nodded his head.

The choice was theirs to make, to begin with. As for him, he now needed to focus on the upcoming battle against the rest of the Sovereigns.

"The United States government is keeping a close eye on your next move, Hunter-nim. No, hang on. I'm sure it's not an exaggeration to say under the current circumstances that the entire world is watching your every move."

Woo Jin-Cheol got their conversation going like that and cautiously steered the topic to what he wished to talk about.

"What will you do now, Hunter-nim?"

He worked really hard to control his pounding heart while observing for any change in Jin-Woo's reaction.

'I must not become a hindrance in Seong Hunter-nim's decision-making process.'

Actually, he had hidden something from Jin-Woo just now.

And that would be the fact that SOS requests towards Jin-Woo had been flooding in from all corners of the globe. The truth was, the Association was finding it hard to function properly because of all the incoming calls right now.

Amidst of those, the Americans – who shared a border with Canada, which was an unfortunate event in this case – were desperately requesting for Jin-Woo's aide, so much so that it even made outside observers feel pity for them.

The role of the Hunter's Association was to help with Hunters so they could focus their whole beings in hunting down monsters.

Woo Jin-Cheol didn't say anything so as to not go against the principle the late Association President Goh Gun-Hui always emphasized. He chose to wait for Jin-Woo's decision, instead.

Too bad, Woo Jin-Cheol's consideration as he anxiously waited for an answer had been betrayed somewhat, as Jin-Woo already made up his mind on what to do next a while ago.

'It's simply impossible to fight against all eight armies at once.'

In that case, he needed to get rid of the one that threatened South Korea first, where his family was staying. As for the remaining Sovereigns, he would deal with them later.

Because, the longer the fight dragged on, the better the odds of his victory would get, that was why.

'First of all….'

Jin-Woo raised his head and spoke to Woo Jin-Cheol.

"I'll be heading off to China."

Chapter 234 Fin.

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[Hero of the Republic of Korea, we welcome you to China!]

[1.5 billion people send their gratitude! Thank you very much, Seong Jin-Woo Hunter-nim!]

[For the continued and everlasting friendship between Korea and China!]

Large placards written in Korean – so Jin-Woo would be able to understand them – were hung up on various places of the airport.

Liu Zhigeng, here to welcome Jin-Woo personally, frowned somewhat while glaring at the placards plastered all over the place. There were so many of them here, he could hardly see an empty spot on the building itself.

It wasn't as if he didn't like the contents of those placards. Oh, no.

Hunter Seong Jin-Woo choosing China over other nations with super-massive Gates in their territories was, without a doubt, something to celebrate as far as the Chinese Hunter was concerned.

He was tasked with taking the lead in the fight against the monsters that would pour out from that massive Gate in the sky, so he felt a massive amount of gratitude to Hunter Seong Jin-Woo for being here.

His problem, though, was with the totally different attitudes his own countrymen showed him back then when he stepped up to aide South Korea. That was what pushed his annoyance level to a dangerous height.

Even now, the memories of those times still remained vividly in his head.

'Don't these people understand the concept of shame??'

All those fellow Chinese citizens who pointed at him and berated him for being a traitor, were currently busy praising and cheering Jin-Woo in one voice and one heart.

So, it was only obvious that Liu Zhigeng wouldn't look at those placards plastered all over the airport in a favourable light.

'If I hadn't dragged our Hunters and made the trip down to Korea, would we even have the face to greet Hunter Seong Jin-Woo today….?'

Liu Zhigeng inwardly clicked his tongue and turned around towards the aeroplane touching down in the airport just beyond the window.

He could already tell. Hunter Seong Jin-Woo was riding in that plane.

The sole Seven Star-rank Hunter of China, Liu Zhigeng, felt a sensation chilly enough to make all the hair on his body stand up emanating from that plane. There could only be one person in the entire world who could pressure him to this degree.

Sure enough – the message of Jin-Woo finally arriving reached the ears of high-ranking government officials as well as executives of the Chinese Hunter's Association waiting around. They hurriedly rose up from their chairs and began raising an almighty fuss.

'This isn't right…. Doing things this way is wrong.'

His already-displeased mood due to the placards had become even sourer after watching these people making noise like this. Weren't they the same idiots who raised their voices and loudly opposed him when he said they needed to help the Koreans?

Indeed, these people would've done anything to stop him from going to Korea if he wasn't the Seven Star-rank Hunter – if he wasn't the one and only Liu Zhigeng.

It simply wouldn't do for these pigs to welcome a warrior risking his life to fight for this land. Liu Zhigeng's expression hardened, and he spoke to his personal gopher.

"Deliver this message to the premier. I'm cancelling this charade of a planned welcoming party, and I shall take full responsibility for greeting and guiding Hunter Seong."

"Sir? B-but, these people are…."

The gopher took a look behind at all the important politicians and executives, his hesitation easy to see. Meanwhile, the folks in question overheard the conversation and began coughing uncomfortably to clear their throats.

Smirk.

Liu Zhigeng broke out in a smirk and stood before these people.

"I'd like you folks to disappear from my sight right this moment. Is there anyone here with a good reason why you can't do that?"

These high-ranking politicians and executives from Hunter's Association knew how crappy Liu Zhigeng's personality was, so as soon as his words came to an end, not one person chose to remain and hurriedly escaped from the waiting area.

Liu Zhigeng scanned the now-empty waiting area in satisfaction and reverted his gaze back to the gopher.

"How about now?"

"Yes… Yes! I shall immediately send the word to the premier!"

While the gopher was hurriedly operating his phone, Liu Zhigeng walked over to the 'Arrival' gates where the travellers were now pouring into the airport.

"Over there! Hunter-nim has arrived!"

"Take his pictures!"

Click, click, click, click, click, click!!

Reporters, waiting the whole day in order to occupy the best position possible to snap their shots, spotted Jin-Woo in the distance and almost immediately, countless camera flashes went off simultaneously.

He was looking around his vicinity after feeling puzzled by the atmosphere of the airport which seemed slightly different from what he'd been told before arriving here.

'Weird. Didn't they tell me that close to a hundred government officials were here to greet me….?'

Not just him, but the accompanying Korean Hunter's Association employee was also scratching his head in confusion. They were also getting rather greatly flustered too, since the Chinese Association's employee that was supposed to guide them around was nowhere to be found, either.

But, with great timing, a familiar face walked over from the distance and a happy smile floated up on Jin-Woo's lips.

"Liu Hunter-nim."

"Seong Hunter-nim."

As befitting the warriors getting ready for battle, these two shared short but manly handshake. The first person to ask his question was Jin-Woo.

"By the way…. What about the other people?"

Liu Zhigeng listened as the Association employee tasked with translation passionately did his job, and grinned brightly while replying to Jin-Woo's inquiry.

"Ah, that. You see, Chinese people can be quite impatient at times. They couldn't wait for that long and decided to go home, so I'm now tasked with guiding you around."

For some reason, Jin-Woo began thinking that quite a hefty chunk of how that situation came about had been omitted here, but as he didn't dislike Liu Zhigeng as a person, he decided not to pursue this issue anymore.

The Chinese Hunter felt relieved that Jin-Woo didn't display any signs of displeasure, as well. He quickly assumed the role of guiding the group to the airport's exit.

"It's this way."

They couldn't take many steps, though, as Jin-Woo came to an abrupt halt first. That meant Liu Zhigeng had to stop, too.

A portion of that massive Gate covering the sky could be seen through the clear glass wall of the airport.

"So, that thing is…."

….The super-massive Gate appeared in China.

Jin-Woo stared at the Gate with a hardened expression, and Liu Zhigeng stood next to him with a solemn expression.

"I can't deal with something like that alone."

If it was something impossible for him, then there was no need to even mention other Chinese Hunters. That was why he felt so elated after hearing of the news of Jin-Woo's decision to come here.

He wanted to express his gratitude to his Korean counterpart, even if only by a little bit. He pondered carefully about this issue, before speaking with a voice filled with his heartfelt sincerity.

"I can't speak for the rest of China, but I, Liu Zhigeng, swear to never forget your help in this matter."

As the hour of the Gate's opening approached closer and closer, breaking news from the affected nations around the world continued to fly in.

[Hunter Seong Jin-Woo chooses China!]

[Both Japan and Russia decide to support Hunter Seong Jin-Woo….]

[Planes carrying Hunters scheduled to depart in the afternoon today….]

[On the other hand, the white-coloured fortress discovered near Japan's sea of forest revealed to be unrelated to these Gates….]

[Finally, five hours before the dungeon break. Will Hunter Seong Jin-Woo's warning come true? Or….]

Jay Mills began swearing almost right away.

"Both Japan and Russia are way too busy flattering Seong Jin-Woo, eh."

Why would those two countries try to help China? It was bleedingly obvious.

Weren't they trying to get some brownie points with Seong Jin-Woo and ask for his help when they find themselves in grave danger later on?

How weak.

China, Japan, Russia – they were all too weak.

How could anyone call those people Hunters when they couldn't even protect their mother nations with their own powers?

'Compared to them, how great are we?'

Canadian Hunters had willingly gathered here in order to protect their land.

'We did not waver in our convictions.'

The crap about getting as far away from the Gates couldn't make these great Hunters of Canada waver and falter. Jay Mills proudly looked at tens of thousands of Hunters who had voluntarily gathered here to participate in the raid.

Waaaah-!

Their fighting spirit seemed to pierce into the heavens. Regular people standing quite a bit of distance away were also sharing these Hunter's sentiments as well.

[We shall never give up on Canada!]

[Wanna run away? Not us!]

[Our Hunters will protect our land and our lives!]

Citizens carrying around pickets of all sizes and various colours were cheering on the Hunters.

Jay Mills stared up at the super-massive Gate floating high up above his head and became convinced of his victory.

'Regardless of which monster shows up from there, we can win this!'

He felt really pumped up and, while turning around towards the other Hunters, he raised both of his fists up high. He was then greeted by a loud, energetic roar.

Waaaaaah-!!

The preparation on the Chinese side had been completed as well.

Just like how it had been like back in Seoul, a raid team consisting of several nationalities was surrounding the ground right below the Gate. The biggest portion of that force was made up of, as one would expect, the elite Chinese Hunters which numbered well over one hundred thousand.

As befitting a nation boasting the highest number of Hunters in the populace, the upper-ranked Hunters carefully selected for this raid alone numbered over a hundred thousand.

Jin-Woo had warned them before that monsters far too difficult for humans to fight against would fall out of the Gate in droves. However, looking at the headcount of over a hundred thousand Hunters gathered here, a certain thought of "Maybe, we might stand a chance here" began germinating within their heads.

As if to remind them that they were being far too optimistic, Jin-Woo summoned out his Shadow Soldiers.

'Come out.'

The wide-open space behind Jin-Woo deliberately left unoccupied was instantly filled up by the 130,000-strong Shadow Army.

Guoooooh….

The nearby Hunters couldn't even breathe properly from all the spooky aura oozing out from these summons. Cold sweat drops rapidly formed on the foreheads of the humans.

'The gap between our strengths… It's too much.'

'Things like them are going to fall out from the sky? Right here?!'

'No freaking way….'

This was an overwhelming fear.

The highly-enhanced sensory perceptions of these upper-ranked Hunters were warning them of the dangers posed by the beings that had appeared before them. Even Liu Zhigeng, who'd hardly get surprised by what life would throw at him by this point, gasped out in shock as well.

"All these things…. Are they all your summoned creatures, Seong Hunter-nim?"

Jin-Woo nodded his head. As their master, he could clearly sense the burning fighting spirit of his Shadow Soldiers finely honed like a sharp blade.

'Nice.'

Jin-Woo looked up at the sky. There were only a few minutes remaining until that Gate opened up. He needed to achieve victory here and convert as many creatures of the Chaos World into his Shadow Soldiers and absorb them into his army.

That would be his first step in this war.

The noisy, bustling vicinity instantly became dead quiet with the entrance of the Shadow Army. They all could sense it – that the moment of bitter battle was just around the corner. The weighty nervousness began pressing down on the shoulders of the waiting Hunters.

Gulp.

Jin-Woo swallowed his dry saliva.

Out of the eight armies, which one would come out this Gate?

It was then.

"My liege."

Bellion informed his master that the time had come and Jin-Woo replied in a low voice.

"I know."

Liu Zhigeng witnessed Jin-Woo sharing a conversation with his summon as if it was the most natural thing in the world, and opened his eyes real wide in surprise.

"Hunter-nim, is it possible to converse with your summons….??"

It was at that point that Beru determined Liu Zhigeng had come, unnecessarily, too close to his liege and in the blink of an eye, blocked the Chinese Hunter's path.

Growl.

An overwhelming killing intent leaked out from this ant-shaped soldier.

"Heok!!"

Liu Zhigeng flinched in nasty surprise and hurriedly distanced himself. Jin-Woo watched this scene unfold and unhappily smacked the back of the rather-agitated Beru's head.

"Hey, he's an ally."

Beru bowed his head non-stop to his master and stepped aside. Jin-Woo apologised for his soldier instead.

"Sorry about that. He's a bit on edge because of the upcoming battle, you see."

"It's… It's fine."

Right there and then, Liu Zhigeng decided to give up on trying to understand Jin-Woo using logic.

That was because he got a fairly strong premonition just now that he'd never be able to understand the Korean Hunter with his common sense.

It was then.

"It, it's opening up!!"

Someone shouted out loudly. Everyone's head snapped up towards the sky.

The light shining in Jin-Woo's eyes transformed. Just as that unknown person had shouted out, the Gate's gigantic mouth was slowly opening up. The choking tension began tightening the chests of everyone below the Gate.

However, even though the Gate was now fully open, nothing happened.

The one most surprised among the crowd was Jin-Woo. He focused his perception but discovered that there was not a single presence beyond the Gate itself.

Meaning, this particular Gate was empty.

'What the hell?!'

A chill suddenly brushed past the back of Jin-Woo's neck.

Could he have….?

Something he had overlooked until now; one certain possibility he hadn't yet thought of abruptly entered his head. And the ominous foreboding gradually morphed into a certainty as time continued to tick by.

"Huh?"

Hunters also began realising that something was wrong here.

Liu Zhigeng turned to look at a Hunter charged with communication next to him and urgently asked his question.

"What about other locations?"

"It seems to be the same story with other locations. They say nothing has happened so far."

"In that case, are all these Gates empty, to begin with?"

"That… uhm… I don't…."

Liu Zhigeng's head swivelled to the side again. His gaze stopped by at Jin-Woo. Unfortunately, the Korean Hunter's expression had hardened to such a scary degree that he couldn't even dare to ask for a clarification anymore.

Was he making that face because his prediction turned out to be incorrect?

No.

That emotion on display wasn't as simple as that.

The one and only Liu Zhigeng couldn't even dare to get close to Jin-Woo, simply because he felt greatly shaken up by the unrest bubbling within the latter's emotions.

'I… I made a mistake.'

Realising the error in his judgement, Jin-Woo bit his lower lip.

Why….

Just why did he treat the Sovereigns as simple creatures?

'They should have anticipated that I'd try to utilise the advantages of my Shadow Army.'

If his thoughts were correct, then….

Jin-Woo raised his head, quickly walked past Liu Zhigeng, and asked the communication Hunter.

"What about Canada??"

"Pardon?"

Unable to hold back his agitation, Jin-Woo's voice got louder.

"Tell me what's going on in Canada!!"

Around the same time, the Gate also opened up in Canada as well.

Strangely enough, nothing happened here as well, just like with other locations. Hunters rousing up their fighting spirit for the upcoming raid tilted their heads and busy glanced at each other in confusion.

"What's this?"

"But, weren't the monsters supposed to rain down from there?"

"Did Seong Jin-Woo really bullsh*t us all?"

It was then.

Jay Mills discovered something strange in the distance and quickly shouted out towards other Hunters.

"Silence!"

Rather fitting for the strongest Hunter present today, his warning that carried a great deal of magical energy managed to shut the mouths of every Hunter here.

Now that the surroundings had become silent once more, Jay Mills began glaring at the Gate again.

As he suspected, he hadn't seen it wrong. A certain humanoid figure was leisurely making its descent. That was the only thing that came out of the Gate so far.

'No, hang on. It's not a humanoid figure. It's just a…. person?'

Jay reconfirmed the appearance of 'something' that lightly made its landing. He stopped other Hunters from rushing past him and he alone walked towards the landing spot.

Gulp.

He unknowingly swallowed his saliva after sensing this heavy tension in the air.

The closer he got, the better he was able to see his opponent. It was a middle-aged man with reddish-black hair and beard.

As for his attire, this man was kitted out in the most gorgeous metallic armour that boasted an arresting blend of silvery and reddish colours, extending from just below his neck right down to his toes.

Jay finally arrived there and stared at this unknown man.

[Are you the king of this place, then?]

Even though this mystery man didn't open his mouth, his voice resounded out within Jay's head. Naturally, he could understand the meaning of these words as if it was his mother tongue being spoken.

Jay's heart began racing really fast now.

"I knew it! Yes! I knew sh*t would go down like this!!"

Here was the reason why Seong Jin-Woo could turn all those soldiers coming out of the first Gate into his pets. They had been in secret communication like this, that's how!

"That d*mn lying con man, I knew it'd be like this! I bloody knew it!!"

Now that his prediction had come true, the inside of his head began filling up rapidly with sheer joy.

He failed to cool down his excitement and raised his fist up high towards other Hunters. They also raised their fists up and cheered on energetically.

Waaaah-!!

Jay turned around towards the mystery man again.

The latter was quietly waiting for an answer even then.

'So, the process is, it asks the first person it sees if he's a king, and if the answer is yes, it submits to him, is that it?'

It was unknown whether this mysterious man was a human or a monster. Jay Mills studied 'him' as the corners of his lips arched up.

"What if I am?"

Since he was the leader of all the Hunters gathered here, it'd not be an exaggeration to call him a 'king' now, would it?

His voice was filled with his strong self-confidence.

But then…

[It seems that b*stard isn't here.]

When the mysterious man opened his closed his eyes, the irises of a lizard hungry for blood blinked ominously from within.

Chapter 235 Fin.

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"T-the situation in Canada is still…."

The Hunter in charge of communication stuttered like a broken clock. Jin-Woo, feeling genuinely frustrated now, pulled out his smartphone, instead.

There was only one person who could give him the most accurate information as quickly as possible. Jin-Woo searched through his contact list before tapping on the contact number of the Special Agent in charge of the Hunter Bureau's Asia Branch, 'Adam White'.

With the current timing being what it was, he was briefly worried whether his call would get through or not, but then…

– "Seong Jin-Woo Hunter-nim!"

A really tense voice came out from the phone's speaker. There was no time to mouth a proper greeting, so he jumped straight to the main topic.

"Adam? Can you tell me what's happening with the super-massive Gate in Canada…."

It was then – he heard a loud cheering of "Waaaah-!!" coming out from the phone's speaker, as well.

Although it was a soft, almost inaudible background noise even his highly-developed hearing could barely catch, that was more than enough for him. Jin-Woo urgently asked over the phone, his expression harder than a stone now.

"Where are you right now??"

– "I'm at the location of Canada's super-massive Gate to provide support, alongside other agents."

"And why are you even there in the first place?!"

Jin-Woo's voice cracked up from agitation, and that caused Adam to reply in a surprised voice, quite obviously failing to hide his fluster.

– "We simply couldn't watch the events in Canada unfold as if it's unrelated to us…. Not just myself, but many other agents are currently assigned to deal with this matter, and…"

Adam White then added that his current location was quite a distance away from where the Canadian Hunters were, so if something bad were to happen, he should be able to escape relatively easily.

Hearing that explanation, Jin-Woo was suddenly overcome with sheer frustration that couldn't be described in words.

'The things I've warned everyone of….'

None of these people seemed to have understood the scale of the enemy just yet.

However, Adam still being unscathed could mean that his prediction was wrong. Jin-Woo collected himself and calmly asked his next question.

"What about the Gate…? Has there been any changes yet?"

– "No. It seems that the inside was empty, just like every other Gates. It's really quiet here in the location, actually."

What a relief that was.

Even after taking into consideration the world pointing their fingers of ridicule and blame at him for his warning being false, he could still breathe a sigh of relief.

"Fuu…"

His prediction seemed to be wrong.

But, then this happened.

– "Uh? Please hold."

After hearing Adam's voice that sounded uneasy for some reason, a creeping dread travelled down Jin-Woo's spine. Why did his ominous forebodings always have to come true?

Adam quickly explained the current situation.

– "Right now! Something is making its descent. Uh? Uh, uh? A person… A person is descending from the Gate!"

Jin-Woo's heart that regained its calm a few seconds ago began racing faster and faster again.

'Just one… person?'

All the hair on the back of his head stood up. Jin-Woo's voice rose up really high.

"The hair colour!"

Adam said that his current location was quite far away from the Hunters. In that case, it'd be impossible for him to see the creepy eyes of that non-human creature.

"What is the hair colour of that person??"

– "H-hang on…."

Adam's voice of borrowing special equipment from an agent nearby could be heard for a brief moment then.

– "Black and red colours are mixed together… It's reddish black."

Oh my god.

Jin-Woo's eyes widened.

"Adam! Run away from there, now!! Doesn't matter if it's a car, whatever, get on it, and escape from there right now!!"

– "Pardon me??"

Before Adam could ask what was going on here…

KWA-BOOOOOM-!!!!

A loud explosion so horrifying that its brutality could be heard even through the phone's speaker resounded out next.

– "Oh, dear lord!!"

Adam's voice had transformed into a scream now.

"ADAM!!"

As if he had regained his wits for a brief moment there from Jin-Woo's shout, Adam began muttering in a tearful voice.

– "H-Hunters….!! The top-ranked Hunters in the front row all got turned into charcoal in less than a second!! T-the flames burning on their bodies are still raging on!! Oh, my god!!"

"Adam! Adam, listen to me! It's going to be alright, so start running now! You gotta escape from there as soon as possible!"

Jin-Woo tried to calm Adam down, but unfortunately, the American agent seemed half-crazed by then.

– "Oh, Jesus…."

Even though he began sobbing softly, he still explained everything he could see and hear to Jin-Woo as if doing that was his final duty.

– "Dragons, Dragons from the sky…. Dragons and other monsters are pouring down endlessly from the Gate!! All sorts of monsters mixed in the horde!! Ah, ah, how could something like this even be….."

The emotions of sorrowful determination could be heard from his voice.

Jin-Woo couldn't just sit back and listen anymore; despite the risk, he connected his senses with the Shadow Soldier inserted into Adam's shadow.

When he did, he got to see the spectacle the American agent got to see, as well.

It was as if he was seeing the scenes of the apocalypse.

From the wide-open Gate, messengers of death and destruction were pouring out in droves, dyeing the heavens black. The skies and the ground were being rapidly filled up by horrifying monsters. The roars of beasts rocked the world, and the flying creatures and their powerfully-beating wings dominated the sky.

Hunters gathered here to fight against them had all been turned into ash even before the creatures landed on Earth from a single flick of the Sovereign of Destruction's hand, who had arrived before everyone else.

The remaining people were trying to run away in pure pandemonium, but unfortunately, their odds of escaping from there seemed pretty dismal at this point.

'Even still…'

He should be able to save one person… Adam White.

The High Orc Shadow Soldier currently being controlled by Jin-Woo reached out and grasped the wrist of the deeply-terrified Adam.

"U-uwaahk!"

He screamed out in fear after seeing that High Orc kitted out in black armour, but he soon saw the shadow of a familiar man within the eyes of this monster.

"S-Seong Jin-Woo Hunter-nim??"

There was no time to explain the situation. That could be done after he had been safely transported out of there. Still possessing the High Orc, Jin-Woo got ready to drag Adam White into the shadow below his feet, but then…

….Something approached them before anyone had noticed it and grabbed the shoulder of the High Orc real tightly.

Swiiish.

The High Orc looked back in a hurry and spotted a middle-aged man with a pair of bizarre reptilian eyes glaring in his direction.

[Where do you think you are going, oh, child of Shadow?]

The middle-aged man opened his mouth wide. A truly gob-smacking level of power suddenly began gathering inside his mouth, then.

Wordlessly, Jin-Woo shifted his gaze back to Adam.

At that moment, as if he had realised something just then, Adam White stared deeply at Jin-Woo – no, more correctly, the High Orc Jin-Woo was controlling.

"Hunter-nim, I…."

KWWUAAAAHHH-!!!

The Breath attack pouring out from the middle-aged man's mouth erased the Shadow Soldier completely out of existence.

"Keu-heuk!!"

Jin-Woo was beset with the sensation of his entire being set on fire and his body powerfully shuddered from the cruel pain.

He was connected to the High Orc with his mind only, so he could escape from there no problem, but it was a different story for Agent Adam White.

The American man's final moments Jin-Woo saw…..

Recalling Adam's eyes as he turned into scorched ash in the flames, Jin-Woo began gnashing his teeth in pure rage.

BOOM!!

He slammed his fist on the ground, causing the world to shake like the advent of an earthquake.

'God d*mn it….'

He should've expected it.

He should've guessed that, once the enemy knew they were going to face off against the Shadow Army – which got stronger the longer the battle wore on – they would then try to decrease the number of the potential battle locations down to an absolute minimum and gather their combat force into one chosen location, instead.

The Sovereigns even went so far to generate all eight portals as if they were sticking to their original plan.

'They gathered their forces in the Gate that's the furthest away from me.'

What a painful oversight on his part this was.

His plan of increasing his Shadow Soldiers while other locations were being attacked and then make his counterattack went down the crapper in a spectacular fashion now.

Liu Zhigeng realised from Jin-Woo's expression that something terrible had happened and cautiously approached the latter's side.

"Seong Jin-Woo Hunte…."

It was then.

The Hunter in charge of the communication belatedly received the news and, with a completely pale face, hurriedly ran towards the duo.

"H-hunters…. Canada, Canada is…."

The rest of his sentence didn't need to be heard at this point.

When Jin-Woo glared upwards, the Gate covering up the sky was already disappearing from the view as if it had served its purpose now.

A lone Shadow Soldier and a human standing next to it both evaporated into ash. This was the power of the Breath of Destruction capable of erasing even the soldier of immortality.

The Dragon Emperor looked at the results of its actions, the piles upon piles of ash beneath its feet, with a great deal of satisfaction and soon spun on its heels.

It now saw the soldiers of the Chaos World, trapped within the gap between dimensions and unable to wield their powers properly for far too long, enjoy their freedom with reckless abandon like fish meeting water.

The Dragon Emperor slowly closed its eyes and opened its arms wide to enjoy its own freedom.

The pounding heartbeats of all living things….

And their dying screams….

The noises of all creations being destroyed continued to ring out like a wonderful symphony.

It was then.

RUMBLE-!!

Accompanied by Ancient-grade Dragons powerfully landing on the ground, two other Sovereigns gently landed in front of them. Right behind them, there were several Marshals of the invading armies.

Every single one of them politely knelt before the strongest Sovereign in existence, the Dragon Emperor.

The creature in the appearance of a middle-aged man formed a meaningful smile. The Mana trembling within the atmosphere was finally theirs. Mana let loose in this world in order to fortify it served to also enhance the strengths of those who could wield it.

Indeed, their 'preparation' had been completed now, as well.

"KUWAHAHAHAHA!!!"

The Dragon Emperor let out a roar of laughter powerful enough to shake the land and shouted out towards the monsters still pouring out from the Gate.

[Destroy everything! That is the one and only glorious mission bestowed upon us!]

Hundreds of Dragons flew above its head next, and vicious flames rained down from their maws to burn away every single thing on the ground.

Kuwaaaaahhh-!!

The director of the Hunter Bureau, David Brennan, found himself sitting alone in his office with all lights switched off.

While ignoring the endless streams of reports flooding in to his desk as well as the incoming calls from the higher-ups, he slowly sipped a glass of expensive alcohol he'd been saving for his oldest daughter's wedding day.

Inside his darkened office, images inside the muted TV screen flickered and danced. Monsters could be seen briefly in those images.

He knew why the TV station covering the breaking news was playing the exact same footage over and over again.

'Because they are all dead by now.'

….Just like every single Hunter Bureau agent sent there to support the Canadian Hunters.

Not one person would have survived that.

Hunters, agents, reporters and cameramen filming the scene.

Every one of them, dead.

Thankfully, though, a cameraman risked his life and did his job, resulting in short footage that at least helped everyone with understanding the scale of the enemy's invading force.

"It's all over!!"

The director suddenly yelled out like a mad man.

Hunter Seong Jin-Woo wasn't exaggerating back then.

Dragons alone numbered in the hundreds. Behind those, Giants, beasts, and insect-like things rushed out like tidal waves. They were creatures of calamity that mankind simply could never fight against.

He now understood the reason why Hunter Seong Jin-Woo repeatedly told everyone in no uncertain terms to distance themselves as far away from the Gates.

This world was now over.

But, still….

"What a crazy b*stard!"

Didn't Seong Jin-Woo go to China with his summons in order to fight against creatures like that? How could he even think about fighting against them when he knew that such monsters existed?

If it was at all possible, David Brennan wouldn't have minded cracking open the Korean Hunter's head and take a look at his brain.

'Before that, though, I should crack my head open into several pieces first.'

Huhuh….

Evidently finding something really funny now, the director formed a grin and pulled out a single photograph from his inner jacket.

It was a photo of himself, forming a clearly-annoyed expression, as well as his daughter wearing a party hat.

'This was when she was around sixteen, wasn't it?'

If only he knew that she'd become a victim of a dungeon break a year later, then he'd have taken lots more photos like this one, even if that meant giving up on his job.

Thinking about there being only one photo containing both him and his daughter, made this father's chest numb from his belated shock and sorrow.

Sip.

Yet another glass became empty.

After burying his daughter, he never expected to crack open the lid of this booze, but here he was. He smacked his lips in bitterness and shook the bottle around a little.

Before he had noticed it, it was almost half-empty now.

"Right…. It's all over."

Almost half of Canada had been wiped off the map the last time he bothered to listen to the reports. That was only a rough estimation, though.

No one could know for sure how fast those creatures were marching towards the United States.

The director angrily loosened his tie.

"I won't die by your hands."

Back then, he swore on his daughter's grave that he'd get his revenge against the monsters, that he'd not die at the hands of these d*mnable things. At the bare minimum, he'd go out from this world in his own terms.

Such a determination filled his head and he was soon standing next to the window sill where the distant ground below could be seen.

The chilly wind was brushing past his sweat-soaked forehead.

'….I hope that my daughter is waiting for me where I'm about to go.'

He squeezed his tearful eyes shut and was about to leap to the ground, but then….

….Someone suddenly grabbed his shoulder.

"Heok?!"

He nearly jumped out of his shoes from sheer fright and quickly looked back with his eyes wide open, only to discover a man with a very familiar face standing there.

"H-Hunter S-Seong Jin-Woo???"

As the director's face paled like a man seeing a scary ghost, Jin-Woo quietly spoke to him.

"I'm looking for something."

Chapter 236 Fin.

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Chapter 237: Chapter 237

What could he possibly be looking for when the world was facing certain annihilation? No, besides all that, was the man in front of the director's eyes the real Hunter Seong Jin-Woo, to begin with?

Wondering if he got too drunk and was seeing things, the director roughly shook his head from side to side.

But, Jin-Woo's figure became even clearer and in focus from that action, leading the director to realise that the man in front of him was not a figment of his imagination.

His intoxication flew away in an instant and his voice rose up an octave.

"W-what are you looking for?"

"The Rune Stone."

Jin-Woo told the director precisely what he was here for.

"The Rune Stone from Kamish, give it to me."

His surprised lasted only for a short while; the director reflexively shook his head.

"As you may well know, Hunter-nim, the Kamish's Rune Stone is the Hunter Bureau's….."

That was when his words came to a choking halt.

This d*mn work-related habit of his. What about the Hunter Bureau? So what? Never mind the Bureau, the whole of the United States of America was about to go up in flames, so who cared about a measly little Run Stone now?

'Looks like I haven't fully woken up from the booze yet.'

The director loudly slapped his cheeks with his palms. After his skin reddened up from the stinging impact, he finally felt as if his brain was getting in gear.

His once-blurry eyes regained their focus as well.

He then arrived at a certain conclusion that to the Hunter Bureau, no, to the entire United States of America, the reason why Jin-Woo wanted the Rune Stone in the first place was far more important than its financial value.

A short bout of deliberation later. The director asked cautiously as to not sour Jin-Woo's moods.

"I can definitely give you the Rune Stone, but why do you need it?"

Without a single shred of hesitation, Jin-Woo replied back.

"I'll use it as a tool for my counter-attack."

Through the eyes of the System, Jin-Woo got to confirm the 'Skill' sleeping within the Rune Stone in question pretty early on. It definitely contained a certain power of a Dragon.

There was a reason why he showed no interest whatsoever to this Rune Stone until now, though – this Skill had a rather serious drawback.

Meaning, it was a power he didn't need.

'However…. The story has changed now.'

After descending to the ninth underground floor of the Hunter Bureau's HQ, the director and Jin-Woo now stood before the reinforced glass case that housed the Rune Stone in question.

Rather than through the System, Jin-Woo only needed his eyes and senses this time to accurately decipher the Skill contained with that little 'stone'. It was as exactly as he remembered it.

A 'Skill' that boasted a truly horrifying power. The seriousness of the current situation should be more than enough to offset the drawback of such a horrifying power.

Ba-thump. His heart pulsed softly in approval.

The director wordlessly stared at the Rune Stone before asking his question.

"Hunter-nim, you once told me that the monsters of the dungeons were sent here by the beings called the Rulers, didn't you?"

"Yes, I did."

"In that case, what are these Rune Stones found inside the bodies of the monsters?"

"They are gifts from the Rulers to enable humanity to hunt monsters down more efficiently."

What the Rulers wanted was to spread Mana around this world through violent clashes between monsters and mankind. The sacrifices made by humans were simply a side-effect, not their true end goal.

Indeed, these Rune Stones – stones inserted into the monsters so, upon their deaths, their powers could be sealed within – were the sign of the Rulers' consideration towards mankind's monster hunting.

And so, Kamish's power was stored within this stone.

Jin-Woo took hold of the Dragon's power that would play the crucial role in his fightback.

The director tensely observed Jin-Woo grasping the Rune Stone tightly and swallowed his dry saliva.

"Truly…. Can you truly stop the monsters with that thing?"

"Well, I should at least give it a shot."

Even at this very moment, the armies led by the Dragon Emperor were repeating the actions of destroying everything in their paths and advancing forward before stopping to destroy some more.

Thanks to the Mana from the Rulers fortifying the planet, the marching speed of the Army of Destruction had been pegged back somewhat, but that would only last for a short while.

Soon, every inch of this land would be engulfed in the conflagration of war. He simply couldn't sit back and watch as the world crumbled, now could he?

The powers of the Shadow Sovereign that they feared so much – they tried to cowardly hit him from behind and prevent that power from blossoming, but now, it was time to show them what this power in the hands of a measly little lifeform was capable of achieving.

"I'm planning to do everything within my power."

The unwavering will within Jin-Woo's two eyes left a powerful impact on the director's heart.

Seeing that this young Korean Hunter wasn't trying to avoid fighting the enemy, even though he knew full well their frightening scale, the older American man realised how pathetic he was behaving not too long ago when his mind was still filled with thoughts of running away and nothing else besides.

'I wanted to go to where my daughter was? You stupid son of a b*tch….'

He felt so, so ashamed of himself. And also, he wanted to witness this young man's battle right up until its conclusion, regardless of how everything would play out.

"I know I have no right to ask you of this, but…. Please, I beg of you. Please, stop those b*stards, those monsters."

The director bowed his head deeply as tears trickled down his face again. Maybe, what he really wanted to avoid was not his impending doom, which would most likely be at the hands of the monsters.

No, the truth was, he simply lacked the courage to witness his countrymen getting killed and pillaged by these abominable monsters when he was supposed to be the leader of the Hunter Bureau, a man whose job was to be at the forefront, leading the Hunters in the battle against humanity's enemies.

Even if it was nothing but a straw, it didn't matter.

Just a single strand was enough at this point.

If there was one glimmer of hope, then he'd do anything to grasp it.

His emotions had morphed into hot tears as they flooded out of his eyes. Jin-Woo wordlessly grabbed the director's shoulder.

That single gesture felt a hundred times more reassuring than any words for the director. He belatedly wiped his tears away.

"I ended up showing you something pretty disgraceful. My apologies, Hunter-nim."

Jin-Woo waited for a little while until the director regained his calm before opening his mouth.

"There is something else as well. I'm looking for a person now."

Jin-Woo followed after the director and entered a certain apartment building near the Hunter Bureau's HQ.

"You had her stay so close by?"

"We at the Hunter Bureau believe that the things we're supposed to protect should always be within reach, you see."

Perhaps their destination wasn't high up, the director chose the stairs, instead. Just as his back was getting soaked by the sweat, they stopped at a certain door on the fourth floor. The director turned about to look at Jin-Woo.

"We're here."

Jin-Woo nodded his head.

Knock, knock.

There must've been some sort of a security arrangement, because rather than pressing the doorbell, the director lightly knocked on the door twice, instead.

A short bout of silence later.

An agent confirmed the face of the director through the peephole and opened the door.

"…..Director??"

The agent frowned slightly at the strong stench of booze stinging his nose, before belatedly discovering Jin-Woo standing behind his boss and jumped up in surprise.

Should one call this a piece of good fortune when the agent didn't immediately yank out his firearm, just like back when they met him for the first time?

The agent instinctively reached down to his waist after spotting the unfamiliar visitor, but perhaps he recalled the events of the past, a flustered expression quickly bloomed on his face, instead.

"S-Seong Jin-Woo Hunter-nim?"

The agent wasn't even given a chance to think about why the world's most powerful Hunter showed up here, because the director simply led the visitor straight into the apartment.

The other agent waiting on standby greeted the director.

"Where is Madam?"

"She's waiting for you inside. Heok!"

Like his partner that opened the door, this agent also jumped up in surprise after seeing Jin-Woo here.

"S-sir, this gentleman….?"

"Hunter-nim wishes to speak to the Madam, so I guided him here. Can you inform her that Seong Jin-Woo Hunter-nim is here to speak to her?"

"….Understood, sir."

It was then.

"….I didn't expect you to pay me a visit during such times."

As if she was waiting for Jin-Woo's arrival, the door to her room opened up and the Madam slowly walked out.

It was none other than Madam Norma Selner.

Currently, she was acting as the 'Upgrader', capable of enhancing the strengths of Hunters to their maximum potential, but before she awakened her powers, she used to work as a psychic.

Jin-Woo took a step forward and politely bowed his head towards the middle-aged woman.

"Please, this way."

She guided him into the room. The director standing behind Jin-Woo also tried to come in, but Madam Selner stopped him with a gentle voice.

"I believe that Seong Hunter-nim would want to speak to me in private. Am I wrong?"

She looked behind her and asked, prompting Jin-Woo to nod his head. It was as she said. The director spat out a couple of fake coughs and began fixing his attire a little as the room's door closed shut.

She closed shut the door completely and slowly turned around to face Jin-Woo, patiently waiting for her at the corner of the room.

The moment she took a look at his entire being, she failed to stop the shocked gasp from bursting out of her mouth.

"Oh, my gosh!"

He looked completely different from the last time she saw him.

"You are…. You're not the same person as the one I know."

Her eyes began trembling fearfully.

Back then, the darkness had been hiding deep, deep within him somewhere, but now, he had become the perfect darkness itself. She could clearly see the power of 'death' enveloping Jin-Woo. However, he quickly shook his head and corrected her misunderstanding.

"I'm still the same person you know, Madam. Except that I've become one with the darkness you saw inside me."

"Ah, ah…."

Which words in the known vocabulary would be adequate enough to describe this truly wondrous development? The power of a god, now dwelling inside a human being!

She studied just the tail-end of that incredulous power leaking out of Jin-Woo and continued to gasp out in pure admiration. Her slack jaw didn't want to shut close for a long while, but eventually, she did recover her wits somehow.

"Looks like…. I don't possess the necessary power to help you, Hunter-nim."

No, could there be someone possessing an ability capable of helping this man out in this entire world? Because… he had already transcended the limitation of humanity.

The thing was, though, Jin-Woo was thinking of something else. He cautiously approached the still-terrified woman and asked her.

"Madam, you said that you can glimpse into the future, yes?"

"To a certain extent, yes…."

"In that case, can you tell me about my future?"

Before he was about to enter the battle properly, he wanted to see the end through her eyes first. He thought that, regardless of what she saw, he'd be more relaxed going in.

Madam Selner hesitated somewhat before she nodded her head slowly. She reached out and grasped both of Jin-Woo's hands and closed her eyes.

To look deeper into the inner workings of the darkness – she needed a big dollop of courage for that.

However, she couldn't dare to refuse the request of a warrior about to go to war against the foes that required a far greater level of courage than hers. No, the level of courage required would be so great that it defied all attempts to compare it.

The time flew past as if it was merely a moment and, when she finally opened her eyes, uncontrollable tears began trickling down her cheeks.

"You… Are you really going to carry all that burden by yourself?"

Jin-Woo didn't answer her.

"But, how can it be…. How can just one person carry all those terrible burdens…. Are you going to sacrifice one to save everyone?"

Jin-Woo's expression brightened.

"Sounds like I can at least get that far. That's a relief."

"What do you mean, you're relieved?! No one will be able to remember you. You'll end up fighting a lonesome battle all by yourself!"

Jin-Woo let go of her hands as she tried to dissuade him. Back when he made up his mind to fight, he was already prepared to go that far. He took a step back from Madam and bade farewell in a dignified manner.

"I'm sorry for coming by unannounced and asking you for something like this."

"Seong Jin-Woo Hunter-nim!!"

Even before her earnestly pleading voice came to an end, Jin-Woo slid into the shadow beneath his feet and disappeared from there.

The agents outside were taken surprise by her cries and hurriedly rushed into the room, but he was long gone by then.

Just like back when he was searching for Yu Jin-Ho, Jin-Woo climbed back up on top of the tallest building in the city and expanded his sensory perception as much as he could.

At the far, far off distance, towards the far end of the land up north….

….He felt the presence of so, so many monster soldiers that couldn't even be counted anymore, making their march south. There seemed to be almost no presence of life beyond the advancing army.

Meaning, they had become prey of the denizens of the Chaos World.

Min Byung-Gu, Goh Gun-Hui, Adam White, and even his own dad.

Faces of many people who became sacrifices in this war against those creatures fleeted in and out of Jin-Woo's mind.

Pure anger.

Anger gradually welling up from the depths of his chest began dyeing the Black Heart. Jin-Woo closed his eyes and began searching for the Dragon Emperor's aura within that massive army.

As it turned out, it wasn't all that difficult to spot the centre of the mass of 'power' that raged on like a violent storm and swallowing up everything in its wake.

'….Found you.'

Jin-Woo saw the Dragon Emperor.

At that moment, the Sovereign of Destruction also saw Jin-Woo.

That sharp sensory perception that swept past it – there could only be one possessing senses like that. The Dragon Emperor abruptly came to a halt and glared in Jin-Woo's direction.

Its demonic snake-like eyes didn't shy away from the darkness in the distance for a long while. It had finally sensed the presence of the true enemy that could threaten its existence over yonder, that was why.

The Shadow Sovereign and the Sovereign of Destruction glared at each other while transcending past the distance itself. The latter bared its fangs first.

[I am right here!]

Its terrifying roar as loud as hundreds, no, thousands of lightning bolts exploding at the same time resounded throughout the entire planet.

[Tens of millions of your kin have died already! So, how long are you planning to hide like this?]

Murderous glare flickered for a moment within Jin-Woo's eyes.

'Don't you worry. I'll see you soon.'

And when I do….

Jin-Woo swallowed back the words he wanted to say and submerged quietly into the shadow.

Chapter 237 Fin.

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If one were to transplant 'Hell' to Earth, would it resemble something like this?

The skies were filled with thick black clouds that showed no signs of abating. The ground below was, in turn, filled with blood, screams, ashes, and acrid stink.

Sovereigns were born from the darkness with the sole purpose of destroying everything, and so, they proceeded to systematically erase any semblance of light and life from this world.

The Dragon Emperor stood in front of them. It stepped proudly on top of the city now reduced to ash and swept its gaze all over its surroundings.

'What is going on with that b*stard, I wonder?'

After that brief stare-down, the Shadow Sovereign went into hiding and didn't appear again, even until now.

When he used his sensory perception to reveal his existence, the Dragon Emperor took that as the sign of the Shadow Sovereign finally declaring war.

And that was why, for the first time in an extremely long while, the Dragon Emperor's heart that went dormant while wandering within the gap between dimensions had begun beating powerfully once again.

Finally, one of only a few enemies that could truly threaten its life had bared his fangs at it. The true war was at hand.

To the 'Sovereign of Destruction', the sight of the battlefield filled with sheer, uncontrolled madness from all parties involved was pretty much the same thing as a marvellous gift from the heavens.

Could anything be compared to the pure joy derived from the battles?

Too bad, the event it had been waiting for didn't materialise.

The Shadow Sovereign vanished without a trace and showed no signs of appearing again even after a nation of his kin had been annihilated completely.

Of course, it'd be no different than killing himself to fight against the combined army of the Chaos World that easily numbered in the ten-plus millions with just over one hundred thousand of his servants.

However, if he was planning to run away from the get-go, he wouldn't have tried to threaten the Dragon Emperor even at the risk of exposing his current whereabouts.

'….Could he be aiming for something else?'

The Dragon Emperor grew more anxious as time continued to pass by.

Now that they had no clue when and where the Shadow Sovereign would begin his assault, the soldiers under the Dragon had no choice but to move at a much more cautious pace. Obviously, their marching speed had slowed down to a crawl as a result.

The Dragon Emperor wanted to get rid of all the nuisances bothering them as soon as possible and get ready for the battle against the Rulers, so without a doubt, the current situation was proving to be rather annoying.

Could it be….?

'….He's waiting for the annihilation of his kin so he can convert them all into his Shadow Soldiers?'

However, turning humans who didn't know how to wield Mana into his soldiers wouldn't be much help against the Army of Destruction. Surely, that b*stard would know of this fact, too.

It was then.

A voice interrupted the deep deliberation of the Dragon Emperor.

"Humans are coming, my liege."

One of the Ancient-class Dragons acting as its bodyguard informed it of the incoming attacks of the humans. But, didn't all the humans of this nation capable of wielding Mana, 'Hunters', die? If so, what could this be?

The Dragon Emperor formed a puzzled expression and raised its head, and with excellent timing, countless missiles rained down from the sky.

BOOOOOM-!!!

This was the final struggle of the weak creatures, so pathetically meaningless that even the Sovereign of Destruction felt sorry for them. Humans knew that their weapons not imbued with Mana couldn't even touch a single hair on the Army of Destruction, yet they stubbornly refused to give up.

'….This is getting boring.'

The brows of the Dragon Emperor quivered slightly. Anxiety morphed into annoyance, and soon, annoyance transformed into anger.

[None of you step forward.]

The Dragon Emperor warned its underlings not to make a move and for the first time ever since setting foot in this world, revealed its true appearance.

These fighter pilots had flown here while risking their lives in order to buy time, however little it'd be, for the civilians to evacuate. But then, after seeing the truly nonsensical size of the personified calamity approaching them, every single one of these brave men and women became completely speechless.

"Mommy…."

The terror and shock of these pilots only lasted for a brief moment. Soon, the breath of pure destruction fired out in a straight line from the jaw of the calamity, swallowing up all of the fighter jets in the air.

Kuwaaaaah-!

In less than one minute. The lives of these pilots couldn't even buy one minute and their sacrifice was ultimately in vain.

Unfortunately, the Dragon Emperor wasn't satisfied by these humans' sacrifices and raised its head to spew out a terrifying roar at the heavens.

KUWAAAAAAHHH-!!!

That was the Sovereign of Destruction declaring war against the Shadow Sovereign.

Jin-Woo also heard that roar.

His eyes, closed in stillness so that he could organise his thoughts, quietly opened up.

'….It's time.'

The moment his eyelids lifted up, the sight of the 'lodging' Beru had constructed immediately entered his view. Darkness and silence seemed to have taken over the dominion of this needlessly humongous room.

Was it because the current atmosphere resembled the moments of eternal rest? Jin-Woo didn't dislike the combination of darkness and silence as experienced within this empty, wide-open space.

He felt guilty about scolding Beru initially after clapping his eyes on this white fortress for the first time back then, so he quietly summoned the former ant king to his side.

"Hey, Beru. Thanks."

Beru had been silently waiting in Jin-Woo's shadow until then. He sneaked his head out of the darkness below to speak.

"Oh, my king…."

"Yeah, I know."

Jin-Woo cut off Beru's sentence even before another word could be uttered. This time, Bellion rose up to the surface from the side of the ant king.

"It's far too dangerous, my liege."

Even Igrit emerged from below too, as if he was waiting for this chance. He knelt down and lowered his head, his voice sounding earnest.

"I share their opinions, my liege."

All three Marshals were trying to dissuade Jin-Woo from enacting his plan. Wordlessly, their master studied the trio.

Shadow Soldiers would never die unless their Sovereign was killed off. Which meant that they would always worry about the safety of their Sovereign first and foremost.

However, sometimes one had no choice but to make a move even though he knew of the dangers waiting for him on the other side.

For Jin-Woo, this was one such occasion.

"Osborne…. The former Shadow Sovereign said that he liked this aspect of me."

That would be the aspect of him willing to tackle the seemingly-dangerous problem head-on first to see what's what, even though he looked cold and calculating on the outside.

Jin-Woo continued on.

"If he was in the same situation as I am now, what would he have done?"

Bellion recalled the past actions of the former Shadow Sovereign and realised that he couldn't readily provide an answer.

Osborne, the former Shadow Sovereign, was someone who stepped up all by himself to try and stop the rebellion of every other Fragment of the Brilliant Light marching forward to kill their creator, the Absolute Being.

If it was him, he'd never give up on his duty regardless of the situation facing him. Once Bellion's thoughts arrived there, he raised his faltering head up high.

Jin-Woo was smiling back at him.

'They… resemble each other.'

Jin-Woo's face overlapped with that of Osborne's in Bellion's eyes, just then.

'As expected.'

Bellion lowered his head again and made an earnest pledge towards Jin-Woo.

"I shall accompany you till the end, my liege."

It seemed that other Marshals shared his sentiment because they no longer bothered to dissuade Jin-Woo.

Perfect.

"You should've come out like that from the beginning, you know."

Jin-Woo grinned refreshingly at them.

He felt that there really wasn't much time remaining, and pulled out his phone from the pocket. This might prove to be his last chance to speak to his family.

In the end, though, he couldn't bring himself to tap the 'Call' icon. He thought that, if he heard the voices of his loved ones now, he'd not be able to take another step forward.

That's the feeling he got.

Crack!

The crushed phone slowly fell from Jin-Woo's hand.

It'd be perfectly fine to delay listening to their voices until the end of the upcoming battle. Jin-Woo reaffirmed his resolve and summoned the pair of Kamish's Wrath from the storage within the subspace.

And then, he tore the T-shirt he was wearing to create long ropes and wrapped them around his hands holding the shortswords. His weapons shouldn't slip out of his grasp during the battle, but in reality, he was doing this to rouse his fighting spirit up.

The rope made out of his torn T-shirt tightly secured the shortswords in his both of hands.

His firm, well-developed torso muscles, fully on display now that his top was gone, quivered and writhed every time he breathed deeply in and out as if they were alive.

'Alright, good.'

The heightened sensation before the battle quietly made its descent on his shoulders. His heart was steadily pounding away, too.

Jin-Woo always liked this heightened sensation spreading throughout his entire body just before he was about to step into a dungeon.

Both his mind and body were prepared now.

Fuu….

He let a soft sigh leave his lips, and chilling light began shining from deep within his eyes.

The plan he ran countless simulations of in his head raced past his mind one more time. He could not afford to make any mistake from here on.

His expression now reflected the weight of his determination. His Marshals, having read their liege's will to fight, nodded their heads in unison.

Jin-Woo spoke with a determined voice.

"Let's get going."

Inside the office of the Korean Hunter's Association President.

Woo Jin-Cheol was busy recalling the sage advice his grandfather had left behind some time ago.

If he wanted to figure out the severity of an incident, then he'd have to take a closer look at the expressions of the news anchor.

His grandfather had personally experienced and survived the war and various calamities that came to visit Korea in the past, so he knew what he was talking about. After placing a very young Woo Jin-Cheol on his lap, he said these words.

– If the expression of the news anchor is on the bright side, then it's nothing to worry about. If the anchor's expression is a little gloomy, then you should be a little bit cautious. However…. The moments you should really feel scared would be….

Woo Jin-Cheol was studying the expression of the female news anchor and muttered softly without even consciously realising it.

"….When the anchor is trying to maintain a calm expression."

In cases of truly calamitous events, news readers would try to prevent the unrest and agitation blooming in the hearts of the viewers at home by doing their best to project how calm they were.

His grandfather always told him not to miss the moment when such grim determination would be shown on live TV.

And sure enough, the lady anchor of the TV news was ably maintaining a calm expression as well as a level voice to report on the events unfolding in North America – exactly as his grandfather had warned.

[….When all contact with the Hunters stepping forward to stop the advance had been cut off, the American government has urgently mobilised all of their military forces to buy enough time for civilians to evacuate…..]

Woo Jin-Cheol squeezed his eyes shut.

He just didn't feel confident of continuously watching the unfolding tragedy happening on the other side of the planet.

Through Jin-Woo's memory, he had witnessed the grand scale of the enemy's invading forces. He was being serious here – that was a calamity nothing in this world could defend against.

The nation boasting the greatest combat strength, the United States of America, was crumbling helplessly at the hands of those d*mn monsters. And right now, the only thing humanity could do was to pray for a miracle.

Unfortunately, just what kind of a miracle would it have to be to stop those creatures?

Imagination filled with ominous foreboding and terrible imagery continued to bubble one after the other in his head as if they had formed a long, unbroken chain. Woo Jin-Cheol slowly shook his head, hoping to get rid of those distracting thoughts.

A miracle, was it?

'Now that I think about it…'

It had been already over three days since all contact with Hunter Seong Jin-Woo had been cut off.

Woo Jin-Cheol got to clearly see Jin-Woo's ability to create dozens of Gates, back when the representatives of the world's nations had gathered in one place. As long as he wanted to, Hunter Seong Jin-Woo would be able to escape to another world.

It could very well be that he had already evacuated to somewhere safe by now. But, even if he did that, who here could criticise his decision?

It was either fight against ten million soldiers born for the sake of destruction with no one else but himself, or escape to somewhere far away, where their hands didn't reach.

Even if it was Woo Jin-Cheol making this decision, he wasn't confident of choosing the former over the latter.

So, all that remained was to truly pray fervently for a miracle.

"Please, I beg of you. Don't…."

Although there would never be a reply, Woo Jin-Cheol still looked up at the ceiling of his office and whispered softly.

"…..Don't forsake us."

But, it happened right then.

Woo Jin-Cheol jumped up in shock and his gaze was locked onto the TV immediately.

There was an earthquake erupting within his eyes now.

"Uwaaaahk!!"

The best air force in the world, the United States Air Force that proudly boasted the history of zero defeats, didn't fare any better compared to their Canadian counterparts when subjected to the power of the Army of Destruction.

BOOM!!

A fighter jet's engine was destroyed in an instant and its pilot hurriedly attempted to eject from the plane.

As this pilot made his rapid descent towards the ground, he began screaming out in despair as he watched his friends and colleagues getting massacred in the blink of an eye.

"No!! Nooo!!"

Boom!! Bang! Ka-boom!

Booming exploding noises and flashes of fireballs filled up the sky.

The pilot continued to cry out the names of his dying friends even as the disorientating chaos pushed his head into a dizzy spin.

The ground approached at the rate of knots. Just before he was about to become a flat pancake, his parachute unfurled itself in time.

He messily tumbled and rolled around on the ground several times before coming to a stop. He then emptied the contents of his stomach from the extreme case of dizziness.

"Blergh, blergh…."

Were the tears pooling on the edges of his eyes the result of the pain wracking his body, or because of the resentment he felt at his own powerlessness?

Unfortunately, he wasn't given a lot of time to consider that dilemma.

Even though the surroundings were filled with the acrid stink of blood and stinging fumes of chemicals, monsters still managed to sense the breathing of a lifeform from far away and began rushing towards his location.

The pilot hurriedly cut himself loose from the parachute's straps and yanked out a pistol mounted on his hips.

"Die!! Die, you sons of b*tches!!"

Blam! Blam!! Blam!!! Blam!!!!

Several ear-piercing gunshots echoed in the air, but as expected, they were simply inadequate to slow down the monsters by one bit.

Click, click, click….

Now that he ran out of bullets, the pilot instantly began regretting his actions. He should have reserved the last shot for his own final moment.

His hands powerlessly sagged to the ground.

The very first monster to arrive his location as he stood there dazed and numb was a denizen of the Chaos World that resembled a giant cockroach.

Shashashashak!

After seeing the insect-type monster utterly filling up his view, all strength in the pilot's legs abandoned him and he sunk down to the floor.

A despairing moan leaked out of his mouth.

"D*mn it…."

Right at that moment….

kwagagagagahk!!

All those insects rushing at him were suddenly torn apart at once as if a claw from a gigantic creature took a swipe at them.

"Jesus Christ?!"

His tearful eyes anxiously sought out the origin of that miracle. And soon, he found a single Asian man gently landing in front of his eyes.

Although it was only his back, the pilot found it not too difficult to guess this man's name by looking at the pair of uniquely-shaped shortswords in his hands.

"Seong Jin-Woo…. Hunter Jin-Woo Seong??"

Jin-Woo took a look at the pilot behind him.

There was an incredibly intense scowl on his face that made it hard to tell whether he was an ally or an enemy. But, his eyes definitely said, "Run away, now!"

Sure enough, a horde of monsters far outnumbering the ones that got killed was rushing towards them from the distance. The pilot's voice rose up an octave just then.

"Even if it's you, Hunter Seong, you can't do this alone…."

That was as far as his words could go.

KWA-GAGAGAGAHK!!

Jin-Woo furiously swung Kamish's Wraths, resulting in the monsters to get torn apart into bits and pieces like dolls made out of paper. Having successfully bought more time, Jin-Woo looked back at the pilot again.

"Go, now!"

"Ah, y-yes!"

The pilot finally managed to ungainly push himself off from the ground and he began running away using everything in his power. Jin-Woo briefly watched the back of the departing man, before shifting his gaze back to his front again.

He had cut down dozens upon dozens of enemies with those two attacks, but that was like shaving a tiny piece off a massive iceberg.

Enemies hundreds of times greater in number seemed to have latched onto the smell of combat that had taken place here.

This would be the first steps of the war. His first victims would be with these insect-type monsters.

Fuu….

Jin-Woo sucked in a quick but deep breath, and in the direction of the Chaos World's soldiers rushing towards his location, he spat out the two words that would become the turning point in this war.

"Rise up."

Chapter 238 Fin.

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Chapter 239

"Rise up."

As soon as Jin-Woo issued his command….

Kiiieeehk-!!

All those insect monsters that got torn to shreds just now stood back up as new Shadow Soldiers.

In the past, he also revived monsters that got killed during the battles and added them to his stock of soldiers, but these new additions were on a different scale altogether compared to those guys.

Quite far removed from the recent past when the System suppressed the powers of the Shadow Sovereign and resulted in the creation of Shadow Soldiers that were weaker than their living counterparts, Jin-Woo was now the bonafide King of the Dead, and the restrictions of the System no longer affected him. He could create the perfect Shadow Soldiers at will now.

Kiiehk!

These soldiers were so much stronger than when they were still alive. Black smoke rose up vigorously like flames from their bodies. It was pretty obvious that the stronger the soldiers of the Chaos World, the stronger his Soldiers extracted from their shadows would be.

And so, this would be how the unparalleled power that tried to destroy this world ended up becoming the noose that tightened around his enemies' necks.

Jin-Woo issued his first command to these new soldiers, overflowing with fighting spirit.

'Go rampage to your heart's content.'

Kiiiiieeeeehkkk-!!

The insect-type Shadow Soldiers madly rushed towards the incoming waves of Chaos World's forces. Jin-Woo also dashed forward, as well.

He instantly overtook the insect-type Shadow Soldier at the very front of the pack and leapt into the midst of the Orcs unfortunate enough to be marching at the forefront.

Keu-hahk!!

The panicking hordes of Orcs, as well as Ogres standing here and there among them, blindly swung their weapons in a hurry, but the odds of those hits landing on him were zero.

Jin-Woo evaded every attack pouring in from all sides with consummate ease before swinging his shortswords. Like being sucked into the centre of a whirlpool, the hapless Orcs were swept away in one go without any mercy.

Every time he sliced down, the black aura shooting out from his blades utterly tore through not just the Orcs, but the ground they were standing on, too.

Simply put, it was a hellish storm.

The headcount of Orcs decreased a lot faster than the screams exploding out from their mouths could be heard.

It was then. A tall shade was suddenly cast above Jin-Woo's head. He raised his head to look.

Guooo….

A Giant-type monster, so humongous that tilting one's head to look might actually injure one's neck, was busy glaring down at him. And it was also in the middle of raising up high a pillar of stone that matched the length of its arms.

It must've devoured innumerable humans while getting here because the blood of its victims had dyed the vicinity of its mouth dark red.

Jin-Woo's brows creased up. Even before the creature could smash down its stone pillar, he made his move first. In the blink of an eye, he arrived right below the Giant's groin area and swung his reverse-gripped Kamish's Wrath with a crap-ton of power.

SLICE!

The black aura dancing around on the edge of the blade cleanly severed the Giant's thick ankle.

Wuh-uh-uh-uh-uh!!

Suddenly losing one of its ankles, the Giant's body tilted to one side and it cried out in alarm before its balance eventually broke. That humongous body tipped over to its back and soon, gained momentum as it crashed down to the ground.

Ka-boom-!!!

Countless monsters located behind the Giant couldn't evade in time and were crushed to death quite unexpectedly by that huge falling body.

Next up was the turn of the Shadow Soldiers.

As the Giant lay on its back breathing heavily in pain, the insect-type Shadow Soldiers quickly began climbing up on the creature.

Shashashashashak-!!

The Giant struggled mightily to shake off the insects, but too bad, they reached the panicking creature's face in no time at all. And soon, their ravenous feeding time began.

Uwuuuuhhh-!!

The screaming Giant's convulsion ended pretty quickly. However, that wasn't the end for this Giant, not by a long shot. Once more, the Shadow Sovereign issued his command.

"Rise up."

When he did….

Wu-uh-uhhh….

Next to the corpse of the Giant with its face mostly gone from the insects and their vicious bites, a Shadow with the exact same height slowly rose back up. Not just this guy, but other Shadow Soldiers began crawling out one by one from beneath this gigantic shadow, too.

These new Shadow Soldiers created out of the Orc remains were already outfitted with their own weapons. Their hostile eyes were now glaring at their former, still-alive comrades.

In no time at all, over one hundred of Chaos World's forces had been absorbed into the Shadow Army.

Wuuuong….

When the Giant soldier made its move, the enemies flinched greatly. Ignoring them for now, it bent all the way down to the ground where the original's body lay, unfurled the dead monster's fingers, before yanking back the stone pillar for itself.

That was how the massive object had become the new weapon for the Giant soldier.

Tumble, duduk….

Clumps of soil clinging onto the stone pillar tumbled and fell to the ground.

As if not being able to swing its pillar while still alive was its greatest regret ever, the Giant soldier cocked that enormous weapon behind it and got ready to take an almighty swing.

Only then did the soldiers of the Chaos World realise just what kind of authority their enemy possessed.

Stagger, stagger….

These monsters used to enjoy fighting in this so-called war, but now, they all began taking retreating steps in fear. Their unchecked terror travelled through the air of the battlefield and got transmitted in full to Jin-Woo.

He roared out in the languages of the Sovereigns towards these creatures.

[What are you all scared of?]

After all, his counterattack had only just begun. It was indeed far, far too early to feel fear from only this much. A murderous, chilly glare flickered within Jin-Woo's eyes.

In that moment…

WHOOSH-!!

The stone pillar powerfully swung by the Giant soldier brushed past and swept away every single enemy in its path as if they were mere small toys.

Kwa-ga-ga-ga-gahk!!

Immediately after Jin-Woo made his entrance to the battlefield.

The Dragon Emperor, having never let its guard down once, finally detected the presence of the Shadow Sovereign.

'Towards the eastern front.'

Right at the eastern end of the gigantic army spreading out with itself as the centre – that was where the Shadow Sovereign decided to make his appearance.

Although a bit later than their leader, the Ancient-class Dragons as well as other Sovereigns also eventually detected the Shadow Sovereign's movements.

The King of Demonic Spectres, the Sovereign of Transfiguration, addressed the Dragon Emperor respectfully.

[We should lead all of our forces and….]

However, the latter raised its hand up and abruptly cut off the words of the former.

The Emperor's underlings formed various puzzled expressions.

The one who waited for the entrance of the Shadow Sovereign with the greatest anticipation was the Sovereign of Destruction right before their eyes. So, why did it choose not to make a move even after the much-awaited enemy had finally signalled the earnest beginning of this war?

Even at this moment, the forces of the Chaos World were rapidly morphing into the Shadow Army's soldiers.

The anxiety felt by the Sovereign of Transfiguration, currently occupying the body of a short-statured middle-aged man, forced it to open its mouth, but before any words could be spoken, the Dragon Emperor voiced his opinion first.

[The Shadow Army…. Can you see where the Army of the Dead is?]

Even though they were separated by an incredible distance, the Emperor of Dragons didn't miss the crucial fact that the Shadow Sovereign's loyal soldiers were not present within his shadow.

'But, that can't be….?'

The Sovereign of Transfiguration hurriedly closed its eyes shut.

At the Eastern battlefront – a large illusory eyeball created using magic appeared in the air just above the location where the Shadow Sovereign had begun his warfare.

This magical eye took a sweeping look at the battlefield.

It was as the Dragon Emperor had said.

The Shadow Sovereign was freely roaming through the middle of the battlefield as the storm of blood raged on, but not one single hint of the army that should have been hidden within his shadow could be detected.

The Sovereign of Transfiguration opened its eyes and looked at the Dragon Emperor and discovered that the latter's glare was now half-made up of rage and unanswered questions.

'Just what….?'

What was the Shadow Sovereign thinking of by stepping into the battlefield without the army to protect him?

At a casual glance, this seemed to be the most perfect opportunity to eliminate him for good. However, they simply couldn't mobilise the entire army when it was unknown what their enemy was scheming right now. In a way, doing precisely that might be the true aim of the enemy, to begin with.

Anxiety akin to a veil of fog clogging up one's vision grabbed hold of the Dragon Emperor and it couldn't readily make its next move. One of the Ancient-class Dragon worriedly called out to its master.

[Oh, my Sovereign….]

The Dragon Emperor shot a glare at its servant, and all of the Ancient-class Dragons lowered their heads.

Having silenced them all with nothing but sheer intense pressure, the Sovereign of Destruction shifted its glare back towards the eastern battlefield, where Jin-Woo was going on a rampage at the moment.

The number of the Chaos World's soldiers were decreasing at a noticeable rate. And at the same time, that b*stard's own forces were increasing rapidly.

The decision needed to be made right now. The quicker the better.

Too bad, the Dragon Emperor couldn't readily make a choice when the battlefield's direction was unfolding in an unexpected direction through one man's actions that seemed to defy all attempts to predict what his next moves would be.

The Dragon Emperor's brows creased up.

'Shadow Sovereign…. Just what is it that you're aiming for?'

From a certain point onwards, Jin-Woo gave up on consciously cutting down on the vast sea of enemies. There were simply far too many of them for that.

The number of his own allies was increasing at a rapid pace, but still, the scale of the enemy forces was just so ridiculous that it almost rendered all of his actions so far inconsequential.

'Fuu.'

After he sucked in a deep breath, Jin-Woo entrusted himself not to his logical reasoning, but to his senses. When he did, reflexive movements that seemed to have transcended the limits of human anatomy began repeating as if he was a machine created solely to murder and destroy.

Just one strike from him tore through hundreds of monsters. And then,

"Rise up!!"

Then, hundreds of new Shadow Soldiers joined his army. Like a gigantic tsunami wave crashing and swallowing everything up, the Shadows gradually dyed the battlefield black.

Every time Jin-Woo moved, black waves rumbled and rose up from the ground.

"Uwahhh-!!"

A thunderous cry filled with Mana exploded from Jin-Woo and it proceeded to knock down all the monsters standing in the frontline of the battlefield.

Their eardrums must've blown up because blood was trickling down from their ears; as the creatures gruntled out in pain and failed to orient themselves properly….

….Shadow Soldiers pounced on them without mercy.

Screams of monsters reverberating from all corners completely filled up the battlefield.

And so, just how much time went by in this manner?

Jin-Woo finally detected the approach of existences quite different from the forces of the Chaos World that he'd been fighting so far.

He raised his head to spot hundreds of Sky Dragons, as well as Dragonewts possessing humanoid appearances riding on top of them, completely blanket the sky above.

'Is the Army of Destruction finally making its move?'

However, he still couldn't sense the presence of the Dragon Emperor yet.

Not yet, huh?

There was no need to be disappointed, though – because, he had plenty of time on his hands, after all. Besides, if that b*stard was reluctant to make a move, then all he had to do was to give it a good enough reason.

Kiiihak!

The Dragonewt flying at the front of the pack let out a loud shriek which in turn made every single Sky Dragon change their heading and rush towards Jin-Woo's location.

At that moment, determination filled up his eyes.

The reason for the Dragon Emperor to make a move? He'd create that through his overwhelming power that these measly underlings were incapable of dealing with.

Jin-Woo reached out with both of his hands towards the Sky Dragons descending towards him.

'Ruler's Authority!!'

As if to squeeze dry the heavens itself, he strengthened his grip and dragged 'something' that eyes could not see. Mana in the atmosphere answered the will of the Shadow Sovereign next.

Without a single exception, hundreds of Sky Dragons buzzing towards him like a swarm of bees were caught by the invisible hands and were slammed down to the ground.

KWA-GAH-GAH-GAH-GAH-GAHNG!!!

It was a spectacular sight to behold.

The earth rocked violently from the Sky Dragons seemingly endlessly crash landing to their deaths.

What a truly absurd level of power this was. Even Jin-Woo himself got stunned by this display of the Shadow Sovereign's power that was no longer restricted by anything.

Unfortunately, he didn't have time to stew in his surprise for long.

A Dragon that was previously hidden from his view by the swarm of Sky Dragons revealed itself. And he witnessed a cluster of energy gathering in the flying creature's jaw.

Sure enough, the horrifying Breath of a Dragon made up purely of flames fell from the sky.

Kuwaaaaaaaah-!!

Having accurately fired the Breath attack on the target, this Dragon then increased its altitude.

The enemy's presence couldn't be detected. Could the human have been melted away by its Breath, then? Thinking that it had reached a safe-enough altitude, the Dragon stopped flying up and looked down at the ground to confirm the fate of the Shadow Sovereign.

The raging flames died down, and the black smoke dissipated, but…

….But, not a trace of the Shadow Sovereign could be seen anywhere.

'Where is he…??'

It was then.

A presence could be felt on top of the Dragon's head. A chill-inducing sensation brushed past the back of this creature's neck, but by then, it was already too late.

– You b*stard!!

Even before the Dragon could look up, Jin-Woo standing on its head stabbed down with 'Kamish's Wrath'.

Kwa-jeehck!!

Sharp black aura shooting out from the tip of the shortsword penetrated clean through the Dragon's head and exited from underneath its chin.

Rather obviously, the dead flying lizard lost its ability to stay airborne and helplessly fell towards the earth.

The ground rapidly closed in, and eventually, collided with the Dragon.

BOOM-!!

Jin-Woo lightly jumped off from the head of the unmoving, sagging Dragon and while walking towards the approaching enemies, spoke without even bothering to look behind him.

"Rise up."

Just like that, the Dragon and hundreds of Dragonewts began rising up again right behind him.

The Dragon Emperor also felt it.

Its own army shouldn't even be compared to the ragtag bunch calling themselves soldiers that belonged to other Sovereigns. But now, a portion of its proud army had been lost to the Shadow Sovereign.

With that, the situation was now beyond the point of wait-and-see in regards to whatever schemes the b*stard had cooked up. The event of the Army of Destruction being swallowed up by the Shadow Sovereign must be prevented at any cost.

[We shall strike him down.]

The Dragon Emperor issued a new order to the Ancient-class Dragons waiting for their chance to participate in the war.

[All of you shall accompany me.]

And just in case, it issued a different command to the Sovereign of Transfiguration.

[You shall remain here and prepare for the possible surprise attack by the Shadow Sovereign.]

[It shall be done.]

Hundreds of Gates connected to the battlefield in the east suddenly materialised in front of the Dragon Emperor and the Ancient-class Dragons.

'I shall not let you escape.'

With that thought in its head, the Dragon Emperor and its eyes burning in the flames of rage disappeared into the Gate. Right behind it, the Ancient-class Dragons also entered their respective Gates.

Finally, the Army of Destruction, shrinking back and not doing anything until now, was forced to make their move after the Shadow Sovereign successfully managed to provoke them.

Quite unlike in the east where the violent storms of power were on a collision course, a comparatively quieter battle was coming to an end on the opposite side, on the western front.

The American military that had set up their final defensive line here was tragically being torn apart by the fangs and claws of the monsters.

What these soldiers had bet their last hopes on were the weapons used by the Hunters. Unfortunately, there was simply no way that these regular people could effectively use the Hunter-issue weapons that were originally designed for raid situations.

And so, the American military rapidly crumbled away in defeat.

"Uwaaahk! Uwaahk?!"

The role of the marauding army's spearhead for the western front was also given to the insect-type monsters that possessed great agility and sharp senses.

Shashashashak…

The insect monsters quickly closed in on the human soldiers.

Blam, blam, blam, blam, blam!!

These creatures completely ignored the barrage of bullets and pounced on the humans to tear them apart.

"Uwaahk!!"

The survivors retreated and continued to fire away with their guns, but as expected, their actions were completely ineffective. However, it was even more unimaginable that they would suddenly start swinging swords around to fight these insect monsters now.

While they found themselves stuck between a rock and a hard place…

Kiieek.

The insects, having finished their feast on the human soldiers, swivelled their heads towards the next wave of prey. It was now the turn of the survivors.

The platoon commander's expression hardened as he took a look at his soldiers to the side. They were nodding their heads back to him.

From the moment they learned that this mission was simply a ploy to buy enough time for the civilians to evacuate, they all had prepared themselves for this moment.

The platoon commander pulled out a hand grenade. This little modern-day explosive might not be able to kill these enemies, but on the flip side, they couldn't avoid becoming food for their enemies, either.

The platoon commander yanked out the safety pin.

The insect-type monsters sensed that the atmosphere had turned weird from the human's action and while screeching out loudly, they madly pounced on the platoon commander.

Kiiiiaaaahhkk-!!

His eyes grew wider as he watched the insects swarm towards him. It truly happened in the blink of an eye.

These insects arrived right before his nose in less than a breath. Just before their sharp mandibles split open wide to swallow him up…

….A certain figure stepped before the platoon commander faster than any of the insects could and took the hand grenade away, while blocking the attacks of the monsters with his bare back.

The commander could only look up in a total daze at the man blocking his view, who was also at least a good two heads taller than he was.

"T-Thomas Andre???"

Thomas winked and spun around towards the insects before shoving the grenade into the open mouth of one of them.

Although there wouldn't be any tangible damage suffered by the d*mn thing from the grenade, but, it still should get really surprised by a strange object suddenly entering its gut like that.

The corners of his lips arched up as a rather humorous situation played out in his head. Meanwhile, he swung his massive fist and easily blew away the head of that insect.

Kwa-boooom!!

The dead headless insect flew away and landed far away.

"Oops…. That thing's not gonna get surprised now, is it?"

As Thomas stood there scratching the back of his head, top-ranked Hunters urgently rushing forward from somewhere behind him began their desperate struggle against the insect-type monsters.

Kiiieeehk!

Kiiaaahk!

Painful screeches of dying insects noisily rang around. The surviving soldiers quickly recognised who these people coming to their aid were and bright expressions filled up their faces.

"I-it's the Scavenger!!"

"They're Hunters from the Scavenger Guild!"

"Ah, ahh!! Thank you, Lord!"

As befitting a Guild consisting of truly exceptional Hunters, the current situation was resolved in no time at all. However, they didn't have any breathing room whatsoever as yet another wave of monsters was madly rushing towards them.

Thomas Andre's ultra-sharp glare swept across the incoming enemies.

Orcs, Ogres, Trolls, Minotaurs, Cyclops, etc….

All of them were monsters commonly seen inside dungeons. No matter how many of them were here, they didn't pose any challenge to him.

'Except….'

In the middle of this sea of weaklings, there hid a nonsensically powerful being. Just like how other monsters were scared by Thomas's presence, he too couldn't make a move because of that one presence.

Eventually, this creature slowly walked to the front of the horde, as if it was done observing the situation.

[You're the human from that time, aren't you? The weakling vessel of the Rulers, almost driven to death by the Sovereign of Beastly Fangs.]

The King of Monstrous Humanoids formed a sinister grin.

The Sovereign of Beastly Fangs did indeed possess powers of a predator, but basically, it was more specialised towards hunting down its prey, instead. However, this particular King was different from its now-dead comrade in that it ruled over Monstrous Humanoids such as Orcs and Ogres, and its speciality was in up-close-and-personal physical confrontations.

So, it was quite obvious that it'd find this human acting so flippant when he had only a pathetic little bit of strength to fall back on rather humorous to behold.

The King of Monstrous Humanoids, the Sovereign of Iron Body, began unleashing its enormous Mana reserve.

Pressuring the opponent's fighting spirit through aura alone. This was a display of confidence from the Sovereign, implying that it could easily kill off a measly human like Thomas Andre in a heartbeat.

But then….

In stark contrast to the Hunters behind him with their rapidly-paling complexions, the vessel of the Rulers didn't seem to lose his relaxed demeanour at all.

The Sovereign began to wonder if this human had some sort of a scheme, a trick up his sleeve, but then…

"…..So, this much should be enough, right?"

….Thomas Andre muttered to himself.

When he did, the darkness suddenly spread out from beneath his feet and in the blink of an eye, completely covered up the land.

The Sovereign's brow quivered greatly.

'Shadow….?'

This was, without a doubt, the skill belonging to the Shadow Sovereign.

The odd thing was, though, if he was here, then there was no way that the King of Monstrous Humanoids would have missed the source of that enormous power.

At that moment, a familiar voice suddenly rose up from right behind Thomas Andre.

[It's been a long time, oh, King of Monstrous Humanoids.]

The Grand-Marshal Bellion sent his greeting in a polite yet still threatening tone of voice. And right behind him, over 130 thousand Shadow Soldiers, hiding within Thomas Andre's shadow while patiently biding their time, were rising up above the ground at the same time.

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Chapter 240: Chapter 240

The elite Shadow Soldiers numbering over 130 thousand that managed to survive the last war under the guidance of their Sovereign erased their presence as much as possible and hid within the human's shadow.

It was a trap.

Now suddenly finding itself coming face-to-face with the Shadow Army, the Sovereign of Iron Body felt this dizzying sensation of being sucked into a quagmire.

'They got me.'

Currently, the army manning the western battlefront didn't possess enough power to face off against the Shadow Army. Not only that, the ones leading this Army of the Dead were Bellion and Igrit, so the Sovereign in charge now had to worry about its own neck, instead.

Most likely, the Shadow Army – no, the Shadow Sovereign, was aiming for this result.

'….I need to let them know.'

The Sovereign of Iron Body urgently tried to communicate with the Dragon Emperor. However, some kind of 'power' was blocking its attempts to send the word out.

'Could it be….??'

Did the Shadow Sovereign plan this far ahead?

The Sovereign of Iron Body hurriedly activated its sensory perception to locate the source of the 'power' interrupting the contact with the other side. When it did, it discovered a certain High Orc Shaman standing next to Igrit, diligently murmuring out some kind of an incantation while holding onto something small in his hand.

That d*mn creature's spell was disrupting all forms of communication with the other Sovereigns.

The spell from the Commander-grade Fangs, now that he had experienced a rebirth as a true Shadow Soldier, as well as borrowing the power of the Bead of Avarice, was more than strong enough to perform that role.

Grin.

Fangs blushed slightly when his gaze met that of the king he used to serve. Even then, he didn't try to stop casting his spell.

The King of Monstrous Humanoids, the Sovereign of Iron Body felt as if it was being made fun of after looking at Fangs' smile. An uncontrollable rage welled up from deep within.

[You pathetic insects dare to…!!]

No, hang on – this tactic was not something the Shadow Sovereign would have cooked up, never mind his Shadow Soldiers. Indeed, this was not how the Shadow Army conducted its business; this army used to proudly announce the approach of unavoidable death right in front of their enemies every single time.

This was….

'….A human's way of thinking.'

The current Shadow Sovereign, the human, had perverted how the war was supposed to be fought. Didn't he possess any pride as a Sovereign?!

Now thoroughly enraged, the Sovereign of Iron Body expanded its muscles. As his body ballooned up to a near-bursting size, thick veins bulged up on its various muscles.

The Sovereign of Iron Body roared out.

[That b*stard is not qualified to be called a Sovereign!]

It then arrived right in front of Fangs in less than a blink of an eye, but its path was suddenly blocked off by Beru.

Boom-!!

The former ant king grabbed both hands of the Sovereign and began a contest of pure physical strength. He glared at the enemy and growled in the language of the monsters.

[What you said just now…. Retract it. Or else, you shall pay a heavy price for the sin of insulting my liege.]

As a reply, the Sovereign of Iron Body exerted enough power to twist and yank off Beru's arms while shouting out even louder than before.

[How dare a measly little soldier try to stop a Sovereign!!]

And when that happened….

Kiiieeeehhhk-!!!

An ear-splitting screech exploded out from Beru's mouth as his entire body quickly expanded to double his previous size.

The Dragon Emperor saw it.

It saw the corpses of countless soldiers of the Chaos World that died during its brief period of hesitation, as well as the number of Shadow Soldiers that matched those that had fallen.

Figurative flames erupted out from the Dragon Emperor's eyes as it strode outside the Gate. The end of its glare was locked onto Jin-Woo, currently swallowing whole a portion of the Chaos World's army after becoming a literal giant storm in their midst.

The man…

'That b*stard must die!!'

The Dragon Emperor didn't even have the necessary time to transform back to its original appearance, so it hurriedly fired the Breath of Destruction, instead.

Kuwaaah-!!

A flash of light flared brightly in the distance and Jin-Woo, even though he was in a trance-like state while butchering the forces of the Chaos World, didn't miss that blink-and-miss-it moment.

'It's him!'

Jin-Woo's figure vanished from the spot. Right afterwards, all the soldiers of the Chaos World as well as the new Shadow Soldiers were exposed to the Breath and got incinerated without a trace.

Kuwaaaaaahhhh-!!!

Jin-Woo made his timely escape and settled down on a location not too far away.

Ending its Breath attack, the Dragon Emperor glared right at him. Countless Gates opened up behind it and through them, Ancient-class Dragons and Dragonewts revealed themselves.

And so, the King of Berserk Dragons, the Sovereign of Destruction, had entered the fray. What appeared now alongside it was the main portion of the Army of Destruction.

Forces capable of destroying this planet in one day had been mobilised in their entirety just to deal with the lone Shadow Sovereign. And in front of them stood the King of Kings, the Sovereign that lorded over other Sovereigns – the Dragon Emperor.

Jin-Woo had to quickly swallow back his saliva after sensing the truly vast, seemingly-limitless sea of power from the Dragon Emperor.

At once, every single Shadow Soldier still fighting against the forces of the Chaos World stopped and retreated according to his new command. Just like the army of Dragons choosing to stand behind the Dragon Emperor, the Shadow Soldiers also stood right behind Jin-Woo.

The leader of the Army of Destruction formed a mocking grin.

[Are those pathetic soldiers everything you possess?]

There were several thousand Shadow Soldiers hurriedly 'recruited' to his cause after killing the enemy forces. However, he was facing off against nearly ten million soldiers, hundreds of Dragons, and most importantly, the truly dangerous existence called the Dragon Emperor.

Of course, Jin-Woo knew full well the differences in the size of their armies. That was why he chose to enact this plan from the get-go.

"Advance!"

Jin-Woo had his Shadow Soldiers, initially brought to one location, march forward again. An expression of confusion floated up on the Dragon Emperor's face.

'He saw my soldiers, yet he wishes to confront me head-on?'

Those were the actions of an insane fool!

As if to mock the Dragon Emperor's suspicion, the Shadow Soldiers simply rushed forward towards their enemies. Dragons immediately fired powerful, vicious flames at them.

Huwaaaa-aahk!!

With that, Shadow Soldiers were enveloped in flames before disappearing away like expendables, with nary a hint of regeneration happening among them.

Almost instantly, the Dragon Emperor realised that these were simply decoys to buy time.

'Where is he….?!'

It quickly expanded its sensory perception. The Shadow Sovereign was using his shadow to escape to somewhere.

Seeing this shameful sight, the Dragon Emperor formed a mocking grin. It seemed that the human b*stard was planning to slowly shave down the forces of the Chaos World by repeating the tactics of hit-and-run, but he had made one crucial oversight, something he had failed to consider.

And that would be the fact the leader of the enemy's forces could chase after him no problem. The Dragon Emperor easily traced Jin-Woo's shadow now being connected to the western front.

'There you are!'

It'd never let him get away.

The Dragon Emperor quickly generated a Gate connected to the exact spot where Jin-Woo had fled to and jumped in without hesitation.

Just as it took the first step out of the Gate….

….It was greeted by the sight of the 130,000-strong great army surrounding it.

That wasn't all.

Jin-Woo had been waiting for the Dragon Emperor's arrival and spoke in a calm voice when it did show up.

"….Rise up."

Just one command and every single creature belonging to the Western portion of the Chaos army that were killed at the hands of the true Shadow Army rose up as new Shadow Soldiers.

The Dragon Emperor took a sweeping look at the Shadow Soldiers that now numbered well past two hundred thousand and spoke.

[Is this what you were aiming for?]

Draw your enemy to the battlefield of your choosing and establish the upper hand – since the Shadow Army was facing an overwhelmingly disadvantageous number of enemies, the current tactic could be seen as a must, but still, a mocking grin didn't want to leave the face of the Dragon Emperor.

[How laughable.]

It finally understood what the scheme of the Shadow Sovereign was. Although the process of uncovering the plot resulted in the loss of the western portion of the Chaos World's army, that was not a large cost to bare as long as the Shadow Sovereign could be killed here today.

'Even losing half of all the soldiers would not be a loss.'

'Fear' would bloom in one's heart when one couldn't predict the events of the future. But its opponent had been laid bare here.

[Oh, Shadow Sovereign.]

The Dragon Emperor chuckled and looked back at Jin-Woo.

[You must've thought that only I was capable of chasing you down, but….]

'You are wrong.'

In reality, there stood a certain Sovereign that could be seen as the greatest sorcerer in the Chaos World waiting right behind the Dragon Emperor.

Not too long afterwards, the Sovereign of Transfiguration waiting for the surprise attack from the Shadow Army created countless Gates that connected two battlefields.

Before long, a seemingly-endless number of soldiers from the Chaos World poured out before the measly two hundred thousand or so Shadow Army.

'So, how do you feel now?'

With this, your plan has been smashed to bits.

Your miscalculation will result in your death today.

The Dragon Emperor stared at Jin-Woo with a triumphant expression on its face.

[This is your defeat.]

However, Jin-Woo grinned as his reply.

He actually smiled right back at the Dragon Emperor and his satisfied expression.

'He got suckered in.'

Indeed, the Dragon Emperor had acted exactly according to his will.

The King of Berserk Dragons, of course, didn't miss that brief flash of a smile on the human's face.

'….He smiled?'

Sure enough – the summoning of the Shadow Soldiers was cancelled in an instant, and they all got sucked into the dark shade below the Shadow Sovereign's feet.

Just what was this human thinking?

Withdrawing his soldiers now was no different from trying to kill himself. If he had no soldiers to buy him time, then he'd not even be able to escape to somewhere else, either.

Even if he didn't want to lose his precious Shadow Soldiers, no one would've taken him for a fool who would expose his back to his mortal enemies while hurriedly scurrying away!

Before Jin-Woo could do something else, the Dragon Emperor closed the distance first. At the same time, the entirety of the forces of the Chaos World also pounced towards Jin-Woo's direction.

The gazes of tens of thousands, hundreds of thousands of soldiers still breathlessly emerging from the Gates were locked on Jin-Woo and Jin-Woo alone.

It was then – just as the Dragon Emperor arrived right before Jin-Woo's nose and reached out towards him…

….At that moment, Jin-Woo's eyes changed to resemble a Dragon's.

Only then did the Dragon Emperor realise that something had gone terribly awry.

[You….!!]

A moment of stillness came and went.

From Jin-Woo's mouth, a loud and vicious roar exploded out. It was the cry from the soul that pushed every single being near him, every single being weaker than him, into a state of pure despair!

[Kuwaaaaaaahhh-]

It was the Dragon's Fear. The vilest and cruellest Skill of Dragons he learned from Kamish's Rune Stone. He hadn't been interested in it since its powers didn't differentiate allies from enemies, but now…

'But now, it's different!'

The skill that drove hundreds of elite Hunters gathered to hunt down a Dragon to the pits of hell had now been used against the Dragons, instead.

[-Aaaaaaaahhh-!!!]

Just like how Kamish had done to the human Hunters all those years ago, the Shadow Sovereign froze up all the soldiers of the Dragon Emperor, too.

There was no being alive that could break from the effects of Fear produced by the near-bottomless supply of Mana belonging to the Shadow Sovereign, save for one lone individual, and that would be the Dragon Emperor.

After making every single one of the enemy forces freeze up in an instant, Jin-Woo reached out and grabbed the Dragon Emperor's arm next.

[You b*stard…!!]

The brows of the King of Berserk Dragons crumpled.

Jin-Woo gripped the arm tighter as a grin suffused on his lips.

"You, come with me for a sec."

Chapter 240 Fin.

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Chapter 241

The circular shadow spreading out from beneath Jin-Woo's feet rapidly grew large enough to swallow up the Dragon Emperor. The creature's expression hardened.

'From the beginning, had he been aiming for this….?'

From the moment he appeared in the battlefield all alone, directing the Shadow Army behind everyone's back and mopping up the western front, and finally, even drawing the Dragon Emperor to here – were all of those just for the sake of this moment?

Although this human was its enemy, the King of all Dragons couldn't help but admire the meticulousness of the Shadow Sovereign.

At first, he created a situation where it simply had to make a move, and through what looked to be a pretty obvious tactic to lower its guard, then finally, by relying on an unexpected hidden card, he eventually got what he was aiming for.

'….To think, he'd actually use Dragon Fear here.'

The Dragon Emperor formed an expression of someone suffering from a sucker punch. Jin-Woo's grip on the creature's arm tightened after witnessing that unmistakable expression.

'I did it.'

There had been no mistakes so far. A couple more steps, and then…

Soon, the shadow swallowed up both Jin-Woo and the Dragon Emperor.

The darkness blinding them quickly rescinded and they re-emerged at the pre-selected destination.

Having succeeded in his endeavour of inviting the Dragon Emperor to the true battlefield of his own choosing, Jin-Woo quickly distanced himself away from his opponent.

And now, finding itself in a location very far away from its underlings, the creature began scanning the surrounding scenery with mystified eyes.

[And this is….?]

"A place on the opposite side of the world from where your army is."

Truthfully, it was a bit incorrect to call it the exact opposite side, but regardless, that's how far they were now.

They were in Japan, a land where an enormous amount of Mana had densely permeated into its every pore after the King of Giants died.

The land and atmosphere fortified by Mana should be able to withstand much of the potential impact forces resulting from his battle against the Sovereign of Destruction.

Once a massive sea of forest, this location now resembled a barren wasteland stretching endlessly beyond the horizon, all thanks to the concerted efforts of his Shadow Soldiers cutting down the trees present here.

What particularly drew one's attention was this huge white-coloured fortress built up on the top of a hill. The Dragon Emperor pointed at it with a black flag flapping in the wind on top.

[Is that your castle?]

"….Something like that."

[For a castle of the Shadow Sovereign, its size is fairly lousy, isn't it.]

Why did Jin-Woo briefly feel apologetic to Beru all of a sudden? Of course, there was no reason to get suckered into his enemy's pace now, was there?

Jin-Woo threw out a genuine warning at the Dragon Emperor, currently looking rather relaxed despite the situation – it was unknown whether that was because of its sky-high confidence, or it was simply trying to bluff him.

"Well, I think that building's just about the perfect size to commemorate your death today."

Only then did the gaze of the Dragon Emperor fix on Jin-Woo. He didn't try to avoid meeting that glare.

The King of Berserk Dragons stopped looking at the human and closed its eyes for a moment while trying to communicate with its underlings.

Sure enough, not a hint of their signal could be captured. Some creature borrowing the power of the Shadow Sovereign was using a spell to interfere with all forms of communication.

The Dragon Emperor grew conscious of the fact that his human enemy had prepared everything from the beginning in order to perfectly isolate it.

It slowly opened its eyes again and found the entirety of the Shadow Army surrounding it from all sides.

A battle that should have been ten million against one was suddenly turned on its head to become two hundred thousand against one, with the 'one' being a completely different person.

The Dragon Emperor had been surrounded.

[So, this is it…. A battle where either I survive or fall, until my soldiers pinpoint my current location.]

However, its expression was not as gloomy as one would hope for in the current situation.

The thing was, although it didn't mind the types of battles where it'd use the overwhelming numbers to completely massacre its enemies, it also found the exact opposite of that situation quite enjoyable too, where it'd get to overwhelm the enemies alone.

In short, it was an existence born solely for warfare.

It was the incarnation of destruction, one who would not mind its own demise if it was all for the sake of blood, screams, madness, and destruction swirling in a dizzying storm of warfare.

That was why the Dragon Emperor could smile brightly.

[Allow me to show you the real thing.]

At the end of those words, that smile vanished from the creature's face.

Jin-Woo also sensed something at the same time. His senses that had far surpassed the limits of a normal human continuously rang loud warning bells.

Shiver.

Along with a chill running down his spine, goosebumps broke all over his skin.

It was then. Like a scene from an unrealistic movie, a truly frightening roar scary enough to stop one's heart just from hearing it exploded out of the Dragon Emperor's mouth.

Khayaaaaaaaah-!!

This was the Dragon Emperor's Fear, the ruler of all Dragons. The level of terror previously never experienced before slammed into the Shadow Army like a massive shockwave.

AAAAAH-!!

A seemingly endless chain of ripples began shaking the atmosphere. Even the ground quaked violently.

As the shaking akin to an earthquake rocked the world, Jin-Woo detected an extreme amount of terror, pain, and confusion from his soldiers and he urgently brought them back inside his shadow.

AAAAAH-!!!

During that process, vicious dizziness assaulted him and he wobbled unsteadily for a moment there.

The Dragon Emperor finally ended its roar. The corner of its lips curled up after seeing how pale Jin-Woo's complexion was.

[That was the real thing.]

The true Dragon's Fear.

Jin-Woo roughly shook his head in order to get rid of that attack's horrifying impact. Meanwhile, the Dragon Emperor addressed him in a calm manner.

[When you grabbed my arm, I could've easily shaken you loose.]

However, there was a reason why it didn't. It continued on.

[It's only because you impressed me with your efforts to trap me.]

Jin-Woo stared at the Dragon Emperor praising him with a suspicious glare. However, there was not a single hint of ridicule within that serious light shining from its eyes.

[That made me want to speak to you in a quiet place as two Sovereigns on equal ground.]

Jin-Woo's breathing, disrupted by the Dragon Fear just now, finally reverted back to being normal. He quickly righted his posture, his vigilance remaining high.

The Dragon Emperor continued to address Jin-Woo and his tightly-shut mouth.

[If you have inherited the previous Shadow Sovereign's memories, then you should know this by now…. Our real enemy is not this land, but well beyond the sky up there.]

It was referring to the armies of the Rulers. The first and the last ultimate command given to them was to annihilate all Sovereigns born from the darkness.

Quite obviously, the Shadow Sovereign wouldn't be an exception.

[I originally thought of disposing of you first and then get ready to fight them. However, I changed my mind after seeing how you conduct your battles. You possess a different set of skills compared to Osborne. And from your skill set, I foresaw our glorious victory.]

The Dragon Emperor extended its hand out towards Jin-Woo.

[If you take this hand, then I shall do as you want.]

His gaze slowly lowered towards the extended hand.

[If you wish to save your family, so it shall be. If you wish to save your nation, then that shall be done. If you wish for me to leave this land, fine. My soldiers and I shall quietly withdraw from this world.]

Jin-Woo gaze briefly lingering on the hand gradually rose up again until it stopped at the Dragon Emperor's face. The creature was carrying an expression full of compassion.

[You shall become the master of this world. Become a master of this whole planet, not just that small castle on the hill. You amply possess the qualification to do so. All you have to do….]

A gentle smile formed on the Dragon Emperor's lips now.

[….Is to take my hand.]

Once we cooperate and defeat the forces of the Rulers, not only you and your family, even your country – no, even more than that, everyone living on this land will gain peace and freedom.

That was the promise the Dragon Emperor was making here.

[So, how about it? Shadow Sovereign?]

Did he get enticed by the offer? A thin smile slowly spread on the face of the Shadow Sovereign as he quietly listened to the tempting words.

The King of Dragons also formed a smile of its own.

[Will you join me?]

Too bad, Jin-Woo's reply was rather curt in nature.

"Don't make me laugh."

The Dragon Emperor's expression hardened after hearing that pointed retort.

"You want me to trust a b*stard with the eyes of someone that can barely hide its desire to kill me?"

[Haha…. Euh-hahahahaha!!]

The King of all Dragons grasped its forehead and guffawed for a long time. Its laughter must've contained Mana, because every single wave of sound emitted by the creature caused a powerful reverberation within Jin-Woo's heart.

When it finally took its hand away from its forehead, both of its wide-open eyes had changed to that of a reptile's.

[I just can't seem to hide these eyes of mine.]

Appeasement attempt had ended in failure. If conning the other party didn't work, then the remaining way was to destroy him with everything it possessed.

The Dragon Emperor finally revealed its true self. A hostile aura that couldn't be concealed anymore flooded out from its body.

[Bet everything you have and attack me, oh, Child of Shadow!!]

Jin-Woo's eyes widened in shock.

In an instant, choking heat rushed into his face. He quickly retreated to a far-off distance, his gaze still locked onto the unbelievable event unfolding right him.

A mountain of raging inferno suddenly materialised in front of his eyes.

If a sea of boiling lava gained sentience and willingly morphed into the shape of a Dragon, would it look like that?

Jin-Woo watched this appearance of a Dragon made up of endlessly-burning flames and immediately recalled the outer shell of the Demon's Castle instant dungeon that was also burning in perpetual flames.

A battle between a living 'castle' and a man.

It wouldn't be too surprising for anyone to get scared by this incomparable pressure, but Jin-Woo calmly grasped the pair of Kamish's Wraths.

BOOM-!!

When the Dragon Emperor took one step, the world rocked viciously.

'It's coming!'

The massive Dragon was trying to stomp him to death, so Jin-Woo quickly evaded that and ran to create some distance before summoning up the Sky Dragon 'Kaisel'.

Kiiaaahk!

His mount was already getting ready to take off, so as soon as it emerged from the shadow, it flew up into the air. Jin-Woo quickly climbed up on its back.

Kaisel rose up as fast as it could; Jin-Woo then had his ride change directions and descend towards the Dragon Emperor's location. As if it was waiting precisely for that, the Dragon made up of flames fired a Breath of Destruction.

"Go down!!"

Almost at the same time as the blinding flash of light exploded forth from the Dragon Emperor's jaw, Kaisel descended at the rate of knots. The flames capable of erasing everything – the chill-inducing white beam of light brushed past right above Jin-Woo's head.

Kuwaaaaah-!!

Kaisel followed after its master's instruction to descend closer to the Dragon Emperor while barely managing to side-step the Breath continuously pouring out towards it.

Fuuuwoo….

Once the Breath attack came to an end, Kaisel was already near the head of the gigantic flame Dragon. Jin-Woo gathered every drop of his Mana while riding on the back of his mount.

'You did well, Kaisel!'

The gathered Mana flowed into the Kamish's Wrath held in his right hand. The black aura danced and tumbled about as if to signal that it was ready for that final strike.

With everything in his power – Jin-Woo swung his sword containing all of his might towards the Dragon Emperor.

SWIIIISH-!!

The black aura that looked capable enough to tear through anything in a single breath split up like the claws of a predator and took a powerful swipe at the head of the flaming Dragon.

Kwa-gah-gah-gah-gah-gah-gahk!!

However…

'….How can this be?!'

Jin-Woo's brows shot up high.

There wasn't even a scratch on the creature's flaming scales; instead, the unscathed Dragon Emperor began raising its head towards him.

Jin-Woo's expression crumpled.

'Is it Breath again?'

He got ready to quickly descend again in case another round of Breath of Destruction came at his way, but he was greeted by an ear-splitting roar, instead.

Kuwaaaaaah-!!

Dragon Fear!!

Jin-Woo had developed some amount of immunity after experiencing it the last time, but it was a different story for his Sky Dragon. It couldn't withstand the roar from the Dragon Emperor and froze up in mid-air.

Not even giving him any time to un-summon Kaisel, in came the ruthless beam of light signalling true destruction spat out by the King of all Dragons.

RUMBLE-!!

Even though they were in a free fall, Kaisel still twisted its body to push Jin-Woo away to a safer location, and collided head-on against the Breath of Destruction with its body.

"NOOO!!"

Jin-Woo cried out as he watched Kaisel disintegrate in an instant, not even leaving behind ash in the process. Utterly disregarding his wishes, the Sky Dragon was erased from existence without a single trace.

Grit.

Jin-Woo bit his lower lip and fired Mana out from behind to fly into the chest area of the Dragon Emperor in an instant. And to make sure he wouldn't fall off, he grasped tight the scale of this nonsensically humongous creature.

Chiieeiik!

His palm was instantly scorched by the ultra-high temperature.

"Euh-euhk!!"

Jin-Woo gritted his teeth and raised up the Kamish's Wrath held in his other hand up high above his head. The shortsword held in reverse grip was enveloped in the dancing black aura.

Crack!!

The blade stabbing down with all his might managed to break past the scale. But that was all it could do.

Crack! Crack! Crack!!

No matter how many times he lashed out, all he could do was to leave behind small, inconsequential nicks on the Dragon's flesh just below its scales.

It was then. Sensing this ominous chill creep up behind his neck, Jin-Woo hurriedly took a look behind him.

The giant arm of the Dragon Emperor was swinging closer to his location. To dodge that, he unhesitatingly jumped down.

He didn't suffer any impact damage when landing on the ground due to his Mana, but then, without giving him a break, yet another round of the Breath of Destruction poured out from above.

Kuwaaaaahhh-!!!

Somehow managing to evade that merciless attack once more, Jin-Woo breathlessly panted hard.

"Hah-ah, hah-ah, hah-ah…."

He rained down so many attacks, yet the Dragon Emperor remained standing, imperious like the legendary Mt. Tai. It possessed the level of defence and attack power that not even Giants could match up to.

He realised that he couldn't subjugate this Dragon by relying on the same tactics.

'I need stronger power….'

Indeed, he needed an even stronger power – the power that might bring down a giant covered in thick armour with nothing but bare hands.

Just like how an insect small enough not to be noticed by one's eyes couldn't do much about a human being, one needed to become a mountain if a mountain was blocking his path.

It was then.

'Hang on…. Armour, is it?'

A certain possibility flashed by like a bolt of lightning in Jin-Woo's head.

If he could manipulate the power of darkness to create regular-sized armours, then couldn't he also be able to create something much larger and thicker than that, too?

When his thoughts reached that far…

….The shadow beneath Jin-Woo's feet suddenly began growing much larger.

Even the Dragon Emperor noticed this change.

The blackish liquid bubbled and rose up from that shadow to wrap around the Shadow Sovereign, layer upon layer, his size abruptly increasing at an alarming rate.

'What is this human b*stard trying to do now?!'

The thing was, answering its instincts took priority before satisfying its curiosity.

Just before the Dragon Emperor got ready to fire yet another round of Breath of Destruction towards that unidentifiable black mass, it felt the sensation of something poking softly at its back.

It quickly took a look behind.

Fangs had been hiding in a distant corner to perform the communication-disrupting spell but to aid his Sovereign, he had grown into a giant to fire his own pillar of flames at the back of the Dragon Emperor.

Once their gazes met, the Bead of Avarice powerlessly fell from Fangs' grip.

Tumble, roll….

The massive Dragon's murderous rage was now redirected to the scared and trembling Fangs.

[How dare a measly b*stard like you….!]

The Dragon Emperor shifted the direction of its head.

And naturally, the aim of the Breath was shifted towards Fangs, as well.

Just before the attack capable of erasing everything could be fired from the Dragon's maw….

A humongous black shadow that had risen up high into the sky, before anyone had noticed it, viciously punched the head of the Dragon Emperor.

KA-BOOOM!!!!

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Chapter 242: Chapter 242

As it was being shoved away by the enormous impact force coming from the side, the Dragon Emperor saw it.

It clearly saw a gigantic shadow tall enough to touch the skies standing there proudly. And perhaps trying to reject an existence that shouldn't even exist in the first place, thousands, no, tens of thousands of black lightning bolts could also be seen violently roiling and crackling beyond the shoulders of this black shadow.

'….Spiritual Body Manifestation?'

No, that couldn't be right.

The Shadow Sovereign used to be one of the Fragments of Brilliant Light. He didn't have any other 'hidden' form to activate, and how he appeared was how he looked.

However, how could the current Shadow Sovereign assume such a massive form right this moment?

Kwa-gah-gahk!!

The Dragon Emperor pushed down hard with its legs, causing a thin layer from the ground to peel off like the skin of an apple, as its gigantic body came to a stop.

'Could it be….?'

When a certain theory brushed through its head, the eyes of the Dragon quaked in sheer surprise.

'The b*stard…. Could he be summoning the power of death to the surface world?'

But, how could that be?

How could a man who used to be a normal human not too long ago control the power of death to such an astonishing degree?

[So, that's how it was.]

Another sigh of admiration left the mouth of the Dragon Emperor.

[You have spent a lot of time on the border between life and death, haven't you?]

There was a reason why the previous Shadow Sovereign, Osborne, chose to hand all of his power over to a measly little human being. This particular human had been continuously fighting a bitter battle against himself right up until he inherited this power.

All for the sake of his life.

The Dragon Emperor had been looking down on the current Shadow Sovereign just a tad in comparison to his predecessor but now, he felt renewed respect for its human opponent.

And then, it reflected on itself for even thinking of manipulating the weakness of humans to pit him against the Rulers earlier.

'Without a doubt…. This human must die. As expected, he's far too dangerous.'

While the Dragon silently glared at its opponent, the giant Shadow Sovereign was also doing the same thing in silence.

Having become this gigantic Shadow Sovereign, Jin-Woo shifted his surprised gaze lower to his hands that had also grown into a size easily exceeding his own imagination.

'This…. Is this really me?'

He tried to move his fingers. The ginormous body that had become the darkness itself began moving according to his will. It wasn't just his body that had grown huge, though.

From deep within his gigantic frame, the kind of dizzying power that defied all attempts to estimate how big it was gushed out infinitely. He had truly become a mountain in order to bring down another mountain.

Jin-Woo raised his head back up again. And there it was – the personification of Destruction rushing towards him.

BOOM-!!

Violent flames and black lightning bolts scattered in all directions.

Jin-Woo propped his body with his legs extended to his rear and stopped the charge of the Dragon Emperor.

Their physical strength was about evenly matched!

An even contest of strength briefly played out before the Dragon suddenly bit Jin-Woo on his shoulder. Crimson-red flames danced around the bitten part. Jin-Woo didn't panic, though, and proceeded to grab and yank at the Dragon's horn to pull the creature's head away.

And then, one more punch to its face-!

Ka-boom!!

This time, though, the Dragon Emperor wasn't pushed back.

Kuwaaah-!!

Almost as soon as it was shoved back, the Dragon pounced towards him again, before opening its huge maw wide to take a big bite of Jin-Woo's side.

"Keuh-eeeeuhk!"

For the first time since he began fighting against the Dragon Emperor, Jin-Woo couldn't hold back and spat out a pained cry.

Boom! Boom!! Boom!!!

He used his elbow to smack down on the Dragon's head several times, but the creature still lifted him up in the air and began shaking him around without mercy.

An incredible pain akin to his waist being snapped in half rushed up from below.

"Kuwaahk!! Keuh-eeeeuhk!!"

Deciding that enough damage had been inflicted on its enemy, the Dragon Emperor threw Jin-Woo to the ground.

THUD!!

That was followed by another round of Breath of Destruction pouncing on him. When the conflagration-like Breath swept by, one of Jin-Woo's arms had vanished.

However, he didn't scream in pain. He just gritted his teeth. He instantly closed the distance and shoved his remaining hand deep into the Dragon Emperor's jaw.

Rip, riiiip!!

Along with the thick leather being torn apart, the Dragon Emperor's huge tongue was ripped out of his throat.

[Kuwaaaaahk!!]

Rather than blood, crimson lava exploded out from the torn wound of the creature's tongue.

The Dragon writhed in pure agony. Jin-Woo took this opportunity to punch the head of the creature. The lengthy maw was spun to the side as lava spilt in all directions.

The Dragon Emperor glared at Jin-Woo with its vertical-slit eyes and rammed into him with its horns.

The battle's flow see-sawed between the two over and over again.

BOOM-!!

Whenever the two collided, the ground quaked and the heavens screamed. Every plot of land being showered by the falling flames was scorched black; every square inch being struck by the black lightning bolts was ripped apart without mercy.

A desperate battle ensued.

From the sideline, Fangs witnessed the battle between two Sovereigns with dazed eyes.

At this grandiose yet frightening spectacle unfolding right before his eyes, the High Orc Shaman was left completely flabbergasted, unable to turn his head away nor close shut his slack jaw.

What if…

….The Absolute Being created these beings in order to witness a fight of this magnitude? If that was the case, the High Orc Shadow Soldier thought that he might sort of understand the reasoning behind that decision.

Indeed, the battle between these two was no doubt a world-ending calamity but, at the same time, it was a spectacular once-in-a-lifetime event as well.

Tears slowly fell from the eyes of Fangs as he continued to take in the sight of two god-like beings colliding with everything they had.

The power of Destruction and the power of Death smashed into each other, writhed around, and shook the world to its very core.

Jin-Woo clenched his fist even harder.

Boom-!!

It was working.

It's working, it's working, it's definitely working!!

Each of his punches, issuing shock waves that tore apart the air every time he threw one, landed on their targets with scary accuracy.

Boom!! Bang!! Thud!! Kwahng!!

The Dragon Emperor struck out with its sharp claws, brushing past him and hitting the empty air.

WHOOOOSH-!!

Jin-Woo took a step back to evade the attack before pushing forward on his tiptoes to slam his shoulder against the Dragon and shoved it to the ground.

KA-BOOOOM!!!!

He then quickly mounted the toppled Dragon Emperor. What followed next was the continuous stream of vicious punches.

BOOM!! BOOM!! BOOM!! BOOM!!

Brutal attacks rained down from above, without a single break in-between.

BOOM!! BOOM!! BOOM!! BOOM!!!

Lightning bolts, sparks of flames, and the screams of air being torn endlessly reverberated throughout the land.

Unfortunately, it was clear to see that just one hand was not enough to land that one fatal blow.

He concentrated all of his Mana to the remaining hand, but as if he was stuck inside a dream, his strength continued to seep out of him the longer he continued on.

'What's going on?'

Jin-Woo's expression hardened gradually.

Not too long afterwards, the Dragon Emperor also noticed the change taking place in Jin-Woo. Its clawed hand shot up to grab his fist.

Grab!

It happened too suddenly. Jin-Woo got flustered as he couldn't pull his fist back. Meanwhile, the Dragon Emperor addressed him.

[This is the difference between our experience level!]

Jin-Woo's eyes widened considerably.

"Uwaaaahk!!"

The Dragon pierced into Jin-Woo's side with the claws on its remaining free hand and spat out its mocking words filled with laughter.

[Didn't you know that maintaining a large body wastes an unimaginable amount of stamina?]

After completely immobilising Jin-Woo, another round of horrifying energy began gathering and swirling inside the Dragon's maw. The Breath of Destruction was being readied to put an end to this battle.

'This is the end….!'

The Dragon Emperor was sure of its victory now.

However….

Just before the Breath was ready to fire, a new arm suddenly sprouted out from Jin-Woo's shoulder missing a limb.

'He still had that much energy left?!'

The Dragon was stunned but knew that it was still impossible for a different victor to emerge from this situation.

Soon, a blinding light formed inside the maw of the Dragon Emperor. It was then – Jin-Woo shoved his newly-generated arm inside that maw.

"Uwaaaaah-!!"

And then, he scrounged up every ounce of energy and concentrated it to his hand.

Wuuong-!!

Accompanying an incredible impact force, powerful blinding light blanketed the surroundings.

Eventually, the light receded and silence descended on the land.

Jin-Woo reverted back to his human form from the giant shadow. He lay sprawled on the ground and panted heavily.

"Pant, pant, pant…."

His entire body was burning up as if flames had scorched him. He was covered in wounds from head to toe. His current status was an utter mess.

He did his absolute best to control his heavy breathing while sucking in a lot of air. A short while later, he forced his fatigued body to slowly stand back up.

Just beyond the veil of thick fog kicked up from the explosion, someone was making its approach towards him. Jin-Woo could only marvel wryly as the Dragon Emperor, in its human form, revealed itself.

'What a monster….'

The Dragon b*stard was not okay either, but compared to Jin-Woo's own condition, it was noticeably better off.

[You are a very tenacious b*stard, aren't you?]

'That's my line.'

Too bad, Jin-Woo wanted to save the energy required to make that retort so he had to swallow back his opinion. Instead, he wordlessly summoned the pair of 'Kamish's Wraths' and held them tightly.

The Dragon Emperor also unsheathed its sword as well.

Shurung-!

Even though it no longer possessed enough strength to maintain its Spiritual Body Manifestation, the King of all Dragons still scrounged up every little bit of remaining energy in order to kill the human for good.

Jin-Woo, too, held his rough breathing back and gritted his teeth.

The Dragon Emperor arrived before him in just one step and swung its longsword at him. The pair of shortswords and one longsword clashed and clanged chaotically.

Every time sparks flew off from their clashing blades, sweat and blood sliding off their wielders' bodies rained down on the surroundings.

It was then.

Crack!

One of the Kamish's Wrath shattered after its edges had been badly damaged from attacking the Dragon Emperor's toughened steel-like scales earlier.

He managed to tilt his body in time to let the longsword cutting down diagonally brush past him, but that resulted in him losing balance for a brief moment.

The Dragon Emperor didn't miss that opening. It thrust forward its weapon in the blink of an eye and penetrated Jin-Woo's midriff.

Stab!!

Even in the midst of the torrent of terrible pain, he gritted his teeth and swung the shortsword held in his other hand towards the neck of the Dragon.

Too bad, just before his blade could reach the Adam's apple belonging to the Dragon Emperor, the creature grabbed the weapon with its bare hand. The black aura wavering around the blade was blocked by the reddish-black aura of the Dragon.

A mocking grin floated up on the creature's face.

[Did you truly believe that the shortsword fashioned out of a Dragon's tooth can actually hurt this body of mine, the Dragon Emperor's?]

After declaring confidently as so, it pushed the hilt of the longsword with even more power. The weapon sunk deeper into Jin-Woo's midriff and he vomited out a mouthful of blood.

"Keo-heok-!!"

The Dragon Emperor pushed Jin-Woo off with its foot and pulled the longsword back.

Jin-Woo ungainly rolled along the ground and barely managed to stop himself. Just before he could force his body up, the Dragon Emperor arrived right in front of him and pointed the tip of its blade at his throat.

His actions came to an abrupt halt at the weapon that was uncomfortably close to his vital point. The Dragon Emperor chuckled as it addressed him.

[Don't you find it funny?]

Not even once doubting that it'd end up as the victory, the Dragon in human form looked down at the face of its helplessly cornered enemy.

[A battle between the flame born from the darkness and the darkness born from the light. However, this battle is finally drawing to its conclusion.]

Jin-Woo readily agreed with the Dragon Emperor's assessment.

"You're right. Its conclusion is around the corner."

[Oh-hoh.]

The Dragon formed a half-puzzled and half-satisfied expression and scanned Jin-Woo's grievously-wounded body, before asking him a question.

[Have you decided to give up on the meaningless resistance now?]

It was then.

He seemed energyless and defeated, pretty much ready to give up, but in an instant, the light gleaming within Jin-Woo's eyes changed.

The Dragon Emperor urgently thrust the blade forward. To its great surprise, however, Jin-Woo unexpectedly pushed himself forward instead of dodging backwards.

The longsword brushed past his artery with barely a hair's width. The skin on his neck sliced off and blood spluttered out like a fountain, but it wasn't a fatal wound.

'I can do this.'

By paying the price of a grievous wound, Jin-Woo got near the Dragon Emperor's vicinity. He then summoned his father's shortsword stored in his 'Inventory'.

The Dragon's eyes widened.

Even before the creature could decipher this new turn of events, Jin-Woo's shortsword stabbed deeply into his enemy's chest.

KWA-JEECK!!

The blade penetrated past the chest armour and stabbed the Dragon's heart.

[Kuwaaaaaah-!!!]

Not yet.

Not over yet!

Jin-Woo knew all too well that this much of an attack wasn't enough to kill a Sovereign. Even he himself was continuously fighting on with the types of injuries that would have killed any normal human being, after all.

Jin-Woo yanked the shortsword out and activated the skill 'Violent Slash'.

Dududududududududu-!!!

Countless attacks stabbed deeply into the Dragon Emperor's body.

One more time!!

Dudududududududu!!!

[You… you b*stard….!!]

Shockingly enough, even though it was being subjected under the barrage of countless attacks, the Dragon Emperor still raised its sword up.

An earthquake erupted within Jin-Woo's eyes after seeing that.

The Dragon, inflicted with heavy injuries on its chest where various holes could be seen, began deflecting Jin-Woo's shortsword. The longer his skill was deployed, the faster the Dragon Emperor's speed became, as well.

This was the display of the might possessed by the strongest creature borne out of darkness for the sole purpose of destruction. Cold sweat drops formed on Jin-Woo's forehead as he was gradually pushed back in the one area he felt most confident in – his speed.

[Khayahk!!]

The Dragon Emperor spat out a beastly howl and shoved Jin-Woo away. The force was so strong that he thought his wrist broke just now.

'Keu-heuk!'

By the time Jin-Woo regained his balance, the Dragon was already right before his eyes. Unlike before, though, the creature didn't repeat the same mistake of staying its sword.

The weapon penetrated past his Black Heart.

"Keok!!"

Jin-Woo felt the burning pain shooting up from his chest. His breathing tightened and he couldn't even voice his pain anymore. All strength abandoned his legs and automatically, he knelt down on the ground.

Plop.

As if its anger hadn't been cooled down, the Dragon Emperor viciously roared out towards the sky.

Kuwaaaaaaaahhh-!!!

It transformed into a Dragonewt-like form that was halfway between a human and a Dragon's appearance before anyone noticed it, and extended its claws out in order to attack for one last time.

A growling-like voice leaked out of the Dragon's mouth.

[You b*stard, I shall rip you apart piece by piece and feed you to my Sky Dragons!]

If trying to show courtesy and give the Shadow Sovereign a death fitting for a king was a mistake on its part, then the Dragon Emperor would bestow a cruel and miserable death that would make up for that mistake many times over.

'I shall show you what happens to the one daring to obstruct me, the King of all Dragons, at the end!'

The Dragon Emperor raged on with such thoughts filling up its head. It bared its lengthy fangs and continued to roar on. But then…

….Out of the blue, a loud chorus of vigorous warcry exploded forth from the heavens.

Waaaahhhh-!!

The Dragon Emperor raised his head. It was greeted by an unbelievable spectacle just then.

The army of the Rulers, the soldiers of the heavens were endlessly pouring out from a gigantic Gate that wasn't there before. Their flapping wings began filling up the gloomy, clouded sky with the colours of whitish silver.

'Impossible…!!'

The Dragon Emperor inwardly freaked out.

Without a doubt, there was no Gate when it arrived here. So, just from where did that Gate come from, and how could the soldiers of heaven enter this world so quickly?

One would need an incalculable amount of energy to open up a portal connecting this world to the other side. So how….

When its thoughts reached that far, the Dragon Emperor looked down with its trembling eyes at Jin-Woo on the ground, currently panting heavily on his knees.

[You b*stard…. The reason why you attacked me with everything you had from the beginning was to….?!]

It wasn't the difference in experience levels, but he had been working towards this end result from the very beginning? To call the allies from the other side by tearing the space up with the collision of two great sources of power?

Up until now, the Dragon Emperor had been guessing what Jin-Woo's scheme might be through its own world view. The reason for attracting the attention of the army of the Chaos World, the reason for bringing it to this desolate location…

The Dragon took that as the human not wanting their battle to be interrupted by outside factors. But as it turned out, the Shadow Sovereign had a different goal altogether.

Even then…

[Even then…. You couldn't have any other way to communicate with the Rulers….?]

The Dragon Emperor couldn't finish its sentence.

There was a way – the vessels of the Rulers.

Weren't there still a few vessels, connected to the Rulers through the lending of their powers, left on this planet? And that was how the Fragments of Brilliant Light were able to prepare a Gate in this location.

The Dragon Emperor glared at Jin-Woo.

Just for that one-in-ten-thousand chance, he had chosen the method where even if he lost the fight, he'd still win the war before starting this battle.

It was a complete defeat for the Dragon, who only focused on the fight in front of its eyes and nothing else.

Jin-Woo, barely managing to hold back the dizzying pain from all of his wounds, formed an energyless smile.

"It was you, wasn't it?"

"It was you who told the Sovereigns of White Flames and Beastly Fangs to ambush the Shadow Sovereign from behind."

[….Did the Sovereign of White Flames run its mouth off?]

Rather than answering right away, Jin-Woo looked up at the sky filled with innumerable winged soldiers. He lowered his gaze back down to the Dragon Emperor a little later and formed a grin.

"Osborne wanted me to pass along this message."

Jin-Woo slowly unfurled his middle finger. The Dragon Emperor exploded in pure rage just then.

[You b*stard!!]

The deadly-sharp claws rushed towards defenceless Jin-Woo kneeling down on the ground.

Too bad, those claws couldn't reach him, instead getting blocked off by six beautiful wings gently embracing Jin-Woo's figure.

The Dragon Emperor stopped its actions and withdrew its claws. It looked at the figure that blocked its attack and spat out a pained grunt.

[The most Brilliant Light….]

The Dragon raised its head next.

From above, six angels, each with three pairs of wings, slowly descended all around the creature.

Indeed, the conclusion of this battle had been around the corner. The Dragon Emperor recalled that brief conversation he shared with Jin-Woo, and began forming a self-mocking smile.

[….This is the end.]

Soon, the spears belonging to the Rulers penetrated the Dragon Emperor from all directions.

Chapter 242 Fin.

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Chapter 243: Chapter 243

The desperate and gruelling battle between the two Sovereigns also left its mark up in the sky, as well. Ash, scattered into the heavens from the aftermath of the fight, quietly fell like snowflakes.

Jin-Woo watched the grey ash settling down on his shoulders one by one and lifted his head up.

From the distance far away, somewhere above him – the soldiers of the Rulers utterly blanketing the sky were moving to another location via countless Gates.

The spectacle of tens of millions of soldiers all marching in unison according to their Rulers' bidding was truly an overwhelming spectacle to behold.

Their aim was to completely eliminate the remaining forces of the Sovereigns. Now that not just the Dragon Emperor, but several other Sovereigns, had died, there was no chance in hell that the Army of the Chaos World would be able to survive.

That was why the soldiers of the heavens were marching forward to announce the end of this war that had been going on for far too long.

Jin-Woo felt his chest become numb for some reason while watching their deployment. While he was stewing in his emotions, the 'most Brilliant Light' finished giving commands to its soldiers and returned to where he was.

A truly beautiful lifeform that no known expression in human language could adequately describe folded its proudly-unfurled six wings at once, after landing in front of Jin-Woo. Other Rulers also landed behind the 'most Brilliant Light' one by one.

It studied Jin-Woo's current condition. At a casual glance, he seemed to be any other regular human being.

'However, this lone human managed to bring an end to the war between us and the Sovereigns.'

Who could have imagined such a thing?

Who could have thought that the curtains on the eternal war, with seemingly no end in sight, as designed by the Absolute Being, would be closed by a weak existence in a world so far away?

At the least, this angel had never imagined it.

And that was why its initial surprise had morphed into pure respect for Jin-Woo's accomplishments.

[You have ended our war. I do not know how to even properly express my gratitude.]

Jin-Woo wordlessly looked at the ash falling from the sky before shifting his gaze to look at the Brilliant Light.

"There's a favour I want to ask you, although it might come across as a bit too big for a gesture of saying thanks."

[A favour…?]

The Brilliant Light formed a slightly puzzled expression.

The power of the Shadow Sovereign could very well be on the same level, no, maybe even greater than its own. However, such a being was asking for a favour?

As if to lessen the confusion within the head of the Brilliant Light, Jin-Woo answered first before the obvious question could be asked.

"It's something only you can do."

The angel with six wings nodded its head.

[If it's within my power to make it happen, I pledge to aid you to my fullest.]

The Shadow Sovereign played an important role in killing the Dragon Emperor and the Rulers now owed him a large debt of gratitude that couldn't easily be repaid. There certainly was no excuse not to do fulfil his favour.

However, a rather difficult favour came out from Jin-Woo's mouth.

"One more time…. Can you use the 'Chalice of Rebirth' one more time?"

The Brilliant Light felt a shock akin to someone hitting it at the back of its head. Even the other Rulers standing behind it couldn't hide their astonishment.

As their leader, the Brilliant Light simply had to confirm it again.

[Did you ask me for the usage of the 'Chalice of Rebirth', and to reverse time once more?]

"That's right."

Jin-Woo nodded his head and explained himself.

"And after reversing the time flow, I'd like you to not send anything to Earth. I shall kill the Sovereigns, and their armies, in the gap between the dimensions."

The Brilliant Light was left flabbergasted by what Jin-Woo wanted to do after the time reversal and couldn't immediately say the words stuck in his mouth.

'Alone… He wishes to fight this war all by himself?'

Jin-Woo had heard the explanation on the 'Chalice of Rebirth' from the former Shadow Sovereign.

Even if the tool of God was used and time was reversed, the higher-beings such as Rulers and Sovereigns would keep their memories. In that case, since he had inherited the power of the Shadow Sovereign through becoming one with Osborne's ego, his current abilities wouldn't disappear.

Jin-Woo was planning to take this power, as well as his memories, and willingly enter the gap between dimensions.

[You wish to fight them all by yourself?!]

The Brilliant Light spoke in a disbelieving voice.

[But, why do you want to do that? We have used the 'Chalice of Rebirth' many times before, but never did we achieve a result better than this.]

Jin-Woo looked down at his father's shortsword and calmly made his reply.

"Far too many lives were lost during this battle. I just wish to bring them back, that's all."

If it meant he could bring them back by reversing time itself, then Jin-Woo was fully prepared to fight the Sovereigns one more time.

The Brilliant Light closed its eyes to give itself some time to think, and suddenly realised that it did empathise with Jin-Woo's answer. Regardless of what, though, reversing time remained a very dangerous action to take.

[The 'Chalice of Rebirth' is nearing its limit. In case you fail in your objective, it is likely that we won't be able to reverse the time itself.]

Those words implied that a future far more cruel and horrible might be in store for this world. Meaning, the current development might be the best end result for everyone.

[If you wish for it, you could remain in the memories of everyone, forever, as a hero who has single-handedly stopped the invasion of the Sovereigns. But, instead….]

An all-too-easy to see sorrow suffused on the expression of the Brilliant Light.

[The battle you wish to start will be remembered by none except yourself. If you are defeated, annihilation awaits. And even when you emerge victorious, no one will celebrate your accomplishments.]

The six-winged angel confirmed Jin-Woo decision for the last time.

[Even then, do you still wish to turn back the time?]

Before he answered, Jin-Woo quietly closed his eyes and thought of the important people in his life. The eyes of the Shadow Soldiers inserted into their shadows allowed him to see them in real time.

His mom and young sister were holding each other's hands with worried faces, anxiously watching the news coming from Japan on their TV.

Cha Hae-In had her eyes deeply closed as if she was ardently praying to someone. Meanwhile, the Association President Woo Jin-Cheol was also watching the news broadcast with tearful eyes.

Jin-Woo felt their heartfelt emotions and a certain corner of his chest warmed up gradually. And when he opened his eyes, his mind was already made up.

"I'm going back."

….To those people who still remained, and even to those who were no longer here.

The faces of Association President Goh Gun-Hui, Adam White, and his father all brushed past his mind. Lots more people besides them were sacrificed in this war. Jin-Woo swore that no one else would be lost ever again.

The Brilliant Light clearly saw his unwavering determination.

The reason why the Rulers went as far as to use the 'tool of God that should never be used' and save this world was because this planet was originally unrelated to their ongoing war.

However, a denizen of this world and a hero who saved it came to a decision. He said that he'd save not just a portion, but the entire world with his own powers.

And that he'd bear that burden all by himself.

For a moment there, the angel thought the face of the former Shadow Sovereign had overlapped with that of Jin-Woo's just now.

It was the face of its stubborn comrade that refused to step aside even though the soldiers of heavens completely blanketing the skies threatened him so he could protect its master, the Absolute Being.

He might have been a scary enemy, but at the same time, the angel greatly respected him.

'….They resemble each other.'

A thin smile formed on the lips of the Brilliant Light after recalling Osborne's face.

[I understand. I shall pray for your success.]

"Hold on."

Jin-Woo quickly asked a question.

"What will happen to my Shadow Soldiers that didn't exist in the past?"

For instance, soldiers like Beru.

Osborne's original soldiers would still remain within his shadow, sure, but what about others like Greed who was a human named 'Hwang Dong-Su' back ten years ago, or Beru, who didn't even exist back then?

The Brilliant Light explained according to what it knew.

[Those that ends up being overlapped with the time flow of the past will be erased, while those that don't will remain as they are.]

That meant that Beru would continue to exist, while Greed would disappear. He could now hear the soldiers crying out in sorrow from inside his shadow.

Jin-Woo bade his goodbyes in his mind to those soldiers about to part ways with him and raised his head up with a smile.

"I'm ready."

The Brilliant Light summoned out the 'Chalice of Rebirth' from subspace and nodded its head.

[I pray that your courage will save your world one more time.]

The blinding light enveloped the entire world.

A small, easy-to-miss article about a middle school student who went missing after leaving behind a letter with the words 'I've something to do' appeared on the corner of a certain local newspaper.

And about two years later.

The world became noisy for a brief moment after the middle school student who went missing suddenly came back home completely fine, as if everything had been a dream. But everything soon returned to its usual calmness, as it should.

And then, time marched on, quietly.

No incidents of Gates, monsters, or Hunters stepping forward to hunt those monsters ever happened again.

Yu Jin-Ho found himself in the middle of a freshman welcoming party but his expression remained quite stiff.

The enticing odour of pork belly strips sizzling on the grill coming from here and there tickled his nose, but thanks to how tense he felt, he just couldn't work up his appetite at all.

But, how could this be?

Although he was hiding his family background, for the time being, he still lived a life fitting for the last born son of a wealthy 'Chaebol'. For some reason, though, this diner specialising in the frozen pork belly didn't feel unfamiliar to him.

'But, how come?'

Yu Jin-Ho tilted his head this way and that, leading one of his university seniors to lightly tap him on the shoulder.

"Hey, Jin-Ho? C'mon, man. Loosen up, dude. Someone might think you're being led into a slaughterhouse or something."

Yu Jin-Ho got flustered and his voice naturally rose higher.

"N-no, that's not it, Senior!"

"What I'm saying here is, stop doing that for the time being, alright?"

The senior guffawed mischievously but then, sneakily withdrew his laughter.

"Ahh, right. I think, you know, it'll be prudent to behave yourself in front of 'that' senior, just in case. We have this really scary senior in our faculty, you see."

"Heok."

Yu Jin-Ho's expression stiffened a lot worse now.

"You know, that kind of a guy? He doesn't just punish or discipline the juniors for no reason, but just by standing next to him, his incredible charisma is so….."

If one were to talk about such a person, Yu Jin-Ho also knew someone like that pretty close by, too.

He briefly recalled his father's face, often referred to as the CEO of Iron Blood, before roughly shaking his head in order to get rid of the distracting thoughts.

Perhaps he was getting properly drunk now, the senior began talking enthusiastically about this mysterious and scary 'senior' all of a sudden.

"Hey, you know that athlete named Cha Hae-In?"

"Uhm…. Are you talking about Cha Hae-In who became really famous not too long ago as the idol of the athletics world?"

"Right, right. Her. That Cha Hae-In is the GF of our scary senior, you see? Aigoo, here he comes."

The senior jumped up from his seat after seeing a certain man enter the diner and hurriedly bowed his waist.

"Senior-nim, thank you for coming!"

"Senior-nim!!"

"Senior-nim!"

After seeing the polite, disciplined greetings of his seniors, Yu Jin-Ho realised that the drunk senior hadn't been exaggerating a thing until now. With the entrance of one single man, the atmosphere of the noisy, boisterous freshman welcoming party changed instantly.

The useless nervousness he felt right now was good for nothing other than to make his dry saliva slide down his throat quite painfully.

Gulp.

The thing was, though – an unlucky man would supposedly break his nose even when falling on his butt. Yu Jin-Ho couldn't even raise his head from all the fear he felt, but for some reason, that scary senior in question settled down on the spot right next to him.

'Ah….. Dear senior-nim, why did you have to choose the spot next to mine when there are so many available elsewhere?!'

Yu Jin-Ho spat out a sigh deep inside his heart, his head still lowered in dejection, but then, that scary senior suddenly presented him with a glass filled with a clear liquid.

"Take a cup from me."

To think, a glass of booze given to a freshman was not one of those tiny little soju cups but an actual glass cup??

Yu Jin-Ho thought that this action was as expected of a hardcore senior and cautiously took the offered cup, hoping to not make any mistakes here.

'I'm actually not that good with alcohol, though….'

He squeezed his eyes shut real tightly and forced the liquid down his throat. But then, his eyes shot open wide in surprise and he ended up asking a question at this unexpected development.

"S-senior? Isn't this soda?"

"It is."

That supposedly-scary senior was making an expression that was definitely not scary at all as he shook around a soda bottle.

"Why don't you and I drink this, instead?"

For an unknown reason, the senior was forming the face of a person running into someone he really wanted to see after a long, long time of separation.

"Oh, and Jin-Ho? I'm gonna feel really bad about myself if you keep calling me senior this and senior that, okay?"

The senior filled the empty glass up with soda and spoke in a friendly tone of voice.

"From now on, call me 'hyung'."

"Eh?"

"What, you don't want to?"

The once-affectionate eyes of the scary senior suddenly changed to something far more serious. Yu Jin-Ho instinctively straightened his back and energetically shouted out his reply.

"N-no, I shall, hyung-nim!!"

'…Huh?'

After involuntarily spitting out the words 'hyung-nim', Yu Jin-Ho suddenly grew puzzled by how they felt so familiar to his tongue.

'Besides… Hang on, have I ever told the senior what my name is before?'

He continued to tilt his head this way and that, and in the meantime, the senior lightly clinked their glasses.

"Cheers."

For some reason, Yu Jin-Ho realised that grin on the senior's face was not unfamiliar at all; the corners of his eyes grew reddened with moisture as he energetically clinked his own cup with the senior's once more.

"Yes, cheers!!"

Yu Jin-Ho's somewhat dissatisfied voice came out from the phone's speaker.

– "Ah, hyung-nim? Why haven't you come to the faculty classroom yet?"

Jin-Woo replied with a grin.

"I've got a small errand to run today, you see. Ah, that's right. Hey, Jin-Ho?"

– "Yes, hyung-nim?"

"There's this really important matter I gotta take care of first, so can you sub for me during the afternoon class? Thanks."

– "Eh? Hyung-nim? Hyung-nim!!"

Jin-Woo distanced his ear away from the voice desperately calling out to him and ended the call.

Click.

Jin-Woo raised his head and caught the name of the hospital written in large font right before his face.

'Seoul Il-Sin General Hospital.'

There was someone he had to meet staying in this place.

He stopped walking for a bit to fix his attire. Then, just as he took a step towards the hospital, a rather familiar face brushed past him.

He didn't mean to get noticed, but perhaps because his gaze had lingered on for a moment too long on her, she stopped and turned around to face him.

It was Ju-Hui.

The rank B Healer who got scared often but still entered the Association and did her best so that the power given to her wouldn't be wasted.

She used to be like that, but now, she was staring at Jin-Woo with the appearance of a regular university student. He ended up forming a gentle smile after realising just how well not being a Hunter suited her.

Ju-Hui intensely studied Jin-Woo for a long time before she opened her mouth in a hesitant manner.

"Uhm, excuse me…? Have we met somewhere before?"

The words of happy greeting rushed up all the way to the tip of his tongue. However, he chose to shake his head, instead.

"No, I don't think so."

And then, turned around to leave without looking back.

For a little while there, Ju-Hui tilted her head this way and that as she looked at Jin-Woo's departing back before she too continued on her path. He heard her distancing footsteps and formed a satisfied expression.

He had protected her.

He had protected the peaceful everyday lives.

Whenever he ran into the evidence of peace created from his sacrifice, it felt as if he had reaped the benefits of all his hard work.

That was why….

'That's enough for me.'

….That was enough for him.

Jin-Woo stood before the entrance of the hospital and took a look at his left palm with untreatable burned skin. He then slowly stepped inside the building.

If someone asked him about this wound, he'd always reply like this:

That he got this injury while saving the world.

When the doctor in charge walked into a hospital room, a certain patient lying on the bed gestured at him to come closer.

"Can you… help me sit up, please?"

The doctor hurriedly ran up to the bed and cautiously helped the upper torso of the patient lying on his back to sit up.

"Thank you."

It was then, the doctor spotted a wooden bottle he had never seen before on top of a table next to the patient's bed.

"What is this, Chairman?"

The gaunt patient, as thin as a desiccated tree, painfully coughed and wheezed before making his reply.

"A young man gave it to me just now."

The doctor formed a flustered expression.

This was a VIP patient's room in the hospital, which meant that there were two guards constantly manning the front entrance. No one could enter without express permission from the doctor himself.

But just who managed to sneak in here to leave behind that bottle?

"It is a truly strange thing, indeed…. However, what that young man told me was even more incredible."

That young man told the tale of a time now long overwritten, when the patient used to battle 'monsters' alongside him. The young man continued on and said that he came to visit him with this gift as a thank you for everything that happened back then.

"And then, he just simply vanished. As if he was a mirage, as if he was never here, to begin with."

If it weren't for the physical evidence, even the doctor in charge wouldn't have believed it. But there it was, the gift supposedly left behind by that young man.

While the doctor stood there wondering how should he respond in a situation like this, the patient's trembling finger was now pointing at the wooden bottle.

"Give it… to me."

The doctor picked the bottle up and placed it in the patient's hand. The old man sitting up in the bed studied the bottle and chuckled.

"He said that, as long as I drink what's inside this thing, my disease will be completely cured as if being washed away. Huh-huh."

"C-Chairman. You can't possibly be believing in the words of a….."

"I'm tired."

The Chairman cut the doctor off.

"Let me ask you this one thing. Even if I don't drink this, how long do I have left anyway?"

The doctor couldn't make his reply.

Even now, the absolute best that modern medicine had to offer only barely managed to keep the patient breathing, that was all.

At this point, one could even claim it a miracle that he was still alive.

The 'Chairman' lightly tutted as the doctor was unable to say anything.

"If I drink this and things go wrong…. I want you to write this down on my gravestone. Chairman Goh Gun-Hui, buried in this place, having never given up, and fought against his illness right until the end."

"Mister Chairman…."

As a doctor, he knew it was his duty to stop this, but he couldn't bring himself to do so when Chairman Goh Gun-Hui formed a determined expression on his face while opening the lid of the bottle.

He then began drinking the liquid inside with some difficulty.

Gulp, gulp.

After making sure that every drop had entered his throat, Goh Gun-Hui began recalling the face of that young man who left this bottle behind. He recalled those eyes, specifically.

Goh Gun-Hui felt that it was definitely worth it to trust a man with such a powerful pair of eyes.

And then…

Once he finished drinking every drop of this medicine…

Ba-dump.

Ba-dump, ba-dump, ba-dump.

His dying heart began pounding healthily once more.

His heart… was beating again.

[Only I Level Up – Fin.]

Author's afterword

Hello, everyone. It's Chugong speaking.

Actually, after I wrote 'hello everyone', I've been stuck deliberating on what to write next for almost ten minutes now. But, it's as expected.

If the afterword at the novel's completion is a letter from the author, then as I thought, there can only be one thing I should say.

Thank you.

Thank you very much.

I'd like to thank you from the depths of my heart for following these lacking words of an untalented wordsmith, for liking and following them, and for waiting patiently as much as you liked them.

We're at the end now.

A few of you have expressed your worries that the end has come too abruptly, but honestly speaking, this conclusion had been planned from the very beginning.

Things like Jin-Woo reversing time, Ju-Hui that made her appearance at the beginning of the novel appearing again at the end, or even him healing Goh Gun-Hui's illness, all of these.

Although, I did add the reunion with Yu Jin-Ho a bit later on after writing the diner scene between Jin-Woo and him, thinking that it'd be fun.

And so, at the end of the almost-250-episode-long march, [Only I Level Up] has come to an end in this fashion.

When I asked other authors on what they felt after ending their novels, they all said that it was a mixture of relief and sorrow, but why do I not feel any relief, just sadness?

Even as I write this afterword, tears threaten to break out my eyes.

I can't even act my age, it seems.

I might be feeling sad for some reason, but truth be told, I'm thinking of taking about a week off before coming to visit you again with a series of side stories.

I pray that you will all remain unscathed until then!

And since I'm writing this afterword, I might as well burn some page real estate and take this opportunity to express my gratitude towards those who helped me to make [Only I Level Up] a success: my greatest partner, Goh Dong-Nahm Deputy Manager-nim, Lee Seok-Won Associate Editor-nim, who helped me in various ways, as well as Author Leltree, the rising star of our Unique Team.

In all honesty, I thought it'd be awkward to thank just two people so I added Author Lel as well, but after I did that, I was reminded of me whining to him over the phone whenever I got stuck in the writer's block and now I feel really apologetic about almost forgetting him.

I'm really sorry, Leltree!

And so, I'd like to announce once more the end of [Only I Level Up] created out of 10% whining, 39% hard work, and 50% love from all of you, dear readers.

One more time, I'd like to thank you from the bottom of my heart.

Although it was quite tough during the writing of this novel, I still found the journey very enjoyable because of you, my readers, who chose to accompany me on this ride.

I shall prepare even more thoroughly and come back to you better than ever before next time.

Everyone, stay healthy, and farewell!

– Author Chugong, signing off.

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Side Story 1

1. I am an employee of the Hunter's Association.

When you're taking a stroll on a street, ask this question to any student you run into. Ask them what kind of job they would like to have in the future.

A hundred times out of a hundred, you'd get one of these three answers.

One, a famous Hunter; two, a staff member of a major Guild; and three, an employee of the Hunter's Association.

If a kid you talked to was a bit slow in the head, he or she would end up wasting each day wishing to become a famous Hunter.

A kid smarter than the above example would want to get a job in a major Guild that paid you according to one's abilities.

The smartest cookies of the lot would choose to become an employee of the Hunter's Association, where one would still get paid as much as the large Guilds while being treated as a quasi-government official which lessened the danger of getting unceremoniously fired from the job.

Me? I was a smart cookie.

A very smart one, to boot.

And perhaps that was why when I announced my intentions to join the Hunter's Association, both Mom and Dad were saddened somewhat, which was a bit different than how other parents would have reacted.

Dad wanted me to become a prosecutor, and Mom preferred to see me become a doctor. Of course, as the only son in the family, it wasn't as if I didn't know my parents' wishes of seeing me follow after their career choices.

However, I too had my own dream. And that dream played a big part in me choosing to become an employee of the Hunter's Association.

– Why do you wish to become a member of the Hunter's Association?

Those words were thrown my way by none other than the Chairman of the Association, Goh Gun-Hui, as I sat in the interview room with a stiff-as-rock face.

I was busy scolding myself for messing up almost all of the questions asked by the interviewers because of how nervous I had been. But, when I heard that question piercing into my brain and waking me up in an instant….

The light shining in my eyes changed.

At least, I remembered replying to that question with a determined look flashing up on my face.

– Even now, Hunter-nims are risking their lives to protect innocent civilians in many parts of our nation. In that case…. Where are those people who risk their lives for the sake of Hunter-nims?

My voice rose up while saying that I wanted to become a member of the Association and stand on the side of those people that protected Hunters.

Was I mistaken back then when the still-nervous me heard the soft gasps of "Wow" coming from my side and to my front?

But, one thing's for sure – I distinctly remembered seeing a nearly-imperceptible smile on the face of Association Chairman Goh Gun-Hui as the corners of his lips arched up slightly.

That was how I became an employee of the Hunter's Association, a job that others would certainly die for. Putting my parents' slightly lonely farewells behind me, I set off from the hometown that I grew to love and came to Seoul, where the HQ of South Korea's Association was located.

I felt totally over-the-moon because I'd successfully taken my first step in fulfilling my dream of becoming a member of the Association that protected Hunters.

I even had this vague expectation clouding my mind, wondering if everything was going the way I wanted them to.

Unfortunately for me, though, my beautiful image regarding the Association was shattered into a million little pieces on the first day of work. My thoughts of something still remaining that only I could do for the sake of Hunters was completely wrong.

It had already been over nine years since the Awakened, Gates, and monsters began appearing in this world.

The society had already entered a period of stability after experiencing many failures as well as countless trials and errors. And as a newbie member of the Association who had taken his first baby-steps in said society, there was not a snowball's chance in hell that I could have my say in it.

Since my initial goal was to help Hunters out, I was assigned to the 'Support' department accordingly, but what waited for me there were all sorts of unrewarding miscellaneous tasks.

And that was me being kind here. In reality, it was no different than taking care of the mess left behind by the Hunters affiliated with the Association.

– What's this? I heard that Hunters in the area next to ours get a cup of coffee or snacks before going on raids, so how come we don't get any?

– There's this thing I urgently need to take care of, so can you give me an advance on this month's wages?

– If I participate in today's raid, there's no one to bring my child home, so can you do me this favour for me, please?

Indeed, it was always something like this.

Even if it was low-ranked Gates worth not much money, someone still had to deal with it. But, the number of Hunters were limited, so their needs and wants had to be met no matter what.

In an unlucky chance that someone lodged a claim against Hunters, a pretty awful day would wait for me, but if the Hunter with a claim against him suddenly decided to leave the Association, then….

As I ran around all over the place trying to put out all these fires, I grew disillusioned at the reality that was just too different from my imagination, and as I become more and more fatigued, I also became used to my situation, as well.

And so… on a certain day.

As I was listlessly spending time, a phone call came at my way.

Ringggg…. Ringggg….

I spat out a long, long sigh while looking at the phone ringing off the hook, and wondered just which dear Hunter-nim was calling me this diligently to lay out his or her complaints. I reached out and picked up the receiver.

As soon as the plastic touched my ear, a seriously agitated voice exploded forth from the speaker.

– "I told you people never to send Mister Seong to my location, yet why didn't you listen to my requests?!"

I had no idea what this guy was talking about, but first things first – which was to apologise.

"I'm terribly sorry, Hunter-nim. There must've been an error during the formation of the raid team. Can you please tell me what happened in detail?"

– "What the heck, my man. Forget about details or whatnot. I told you my team don't want to be responsible for a corpse, you know? You keep pushing this weak guy who gets injured from falling over on our team claiming that he's still a Hunter. How do you expect us to take care of the aftermath if something happens?! You guys do this again, and I'm just gonna quit right there and then, got that?!"

The call was one-sidedly cut off there.

I put the receiver down while repeatedly recalling the spelling of the word 'patience' in my head, and then, began collecting data on the Hunter the person on the phone spoke about before any sort of claims could be lodged.

Just like how varied the reasons were for demanding one's raid party member to be changed – such as disagreement over the leader's decision, they didn't like each other, or didn't fight as well as one hoped, etc – such requests were made quite often so I never really paid much attention to the specifics until now.

But then…

'Mister Seong…. Mister Seong…. His name is Jin-Woo, right?'

I saw the record of Hunter Seong Jin-Woo and soon realised that something had gone really wrong here.

'Huh….??'

His rank was only 'E'. As for the amount of magical energy he possessed, it was right at the bottom of the rank E, too.

'Hey, his magic energy emission is no different from a regular person's, isn't it??'

As expected, his record was full of all the instances where he ended up getting injured.

"Oh, my god."

I closed his file in stunned amazement, my heart wildly pounding away.

This… This was definitely wrong.

If I pretended that I didn't see his story and move on here, he'd really die not too long from now.

It was at this point when I recalled the declaration I made back in the interview room.

Hunters risked their lives for the regular citizens, but who risked their lives for the sake of these Hunters?

My head nodded all by itself.

For the first time ever since I started working for the Hunter's Association during this past year or so, I finally found what I needed to do.

The first thing I did was to seek out a senior officer.

Unfortunately, neither my immediate superior officer, or the officer above him, or even the person above that guy, wanted to get involved in a matter that could potentially prove to be too much trouble for what it's worth.

Eventually, I had to seek out the Chief of the 'Support' Department.

"Sir, this is a matter concerning a person's life. It's not going to get solved by itself when we continue avoiding reality like this."

Chief was forming an expression of a deeply concerned man after seeing the junior agent suddenly transform from a well-behaved kid who worked hard without complaints to the current me.

However, I didn't stop voicing the things that needed to be said out loud.

"What if that Hunter dies during a raid, sir? What will we say to his surviving family members then?"

"Uh-huh, you shouldn't say anything so unlucky…."

"That's how much Hunter Seong Jin-Woo's life is in danger, sir. Please, take a look. This is his hospital admittance record. It's already a miracle that he managed to survive until now."

For a while there, Chief wordlessly scanned the data I brought along before raising his head.

"So, what you're saying is that we need to do something as the Association and stop Mister Seong Jin-Woo acting as a Hunter, is that it?"

"Yes sir, that's correct."

Because he'd definitely die in the end if he continued to act as a Hunter.

"Fella, I hope you're aware of this Hunter's backstory while telling me all this."

I nodded my head.

His mother was currently admitted to the intensive care unit. I knew that she'd not survive for another day without the aid of the life-support machines.

And I also knew that he worked for the Association in order to receive financial support for the hospital fees.

"But, sir. Patients struck with the Eternal Sleep Disorder will never wake up. Surely, we can't let a living person march to his grave for the sake of a dead person, don't you agree?"

Even now, countless people were dying because of the illness, the Eternal Sleep Disorder.

It was indeed a regretful thing, but we just couldn't continue to drive him into death traps over and over again for his mother's life. We needed to save him, at the least.

Even though Chief did his best to dissuade me and change my mind, I didn't back down from my decision.

In the end, Chief had to nod his head.

"Alright, fine."

My expression brightened quickly, only for the Chief to add a stipulation first.

"Except that you will personally be responsible for changing Hunter Seong Jin-Woo's mind. If he willingly decides to stop, then we shall do so."

I had already made up my mind about that. Indeed, I've never even entertained the idea of forcibly kicking him away without his consent, to begin with.

Even though I was facing perhaps the most difficult hurdle…

"I understand."

….I still nodded head at the Chief, my expression full of determination.

Seriously now, have I ever been so committed to something to this degree in my life before? I was preparing so much data that I ended up asking myself that question.

This wasn't to make a grand announcement in front of higher-ups nor to pass a difficult examination. No, it was just to persuade one single Hunter named Seong Jin-Woo.

'He's twenty-three years old… he's younger than me by six years.'

Thanks to my meticulous preparation, I felt reasonably confident of my chances today. Well, I had in possession plenty of evidence and records of him driving himself towards the jaws of death, more than enough to chide him for his reckless actions.

I was planning to go through each and every one of these records to argue my case why he should stop being a Hunter. I was even prepared to lecture him that one needed to value one's life as much as one valued the life of his mother.

Clink.

The door of this cafe opened and a face that I only saw through the file photos stepped into the establishment. When I saw him in person, though, I froze up solid on the spot.

He scanned the cafe's interior before spotting me. He cautiously settled down on the seat opposite mine.

"H-hello, there."

He greeted me first. I couldn't say a single thing I've been preparing in my head, though.

"It's not as if we haven't tried to do the same thing."

Chief pushed forward a shot glass filled with soju and I swallowed it one go, my expression scrounging up afterwards.

Whether it was because of the bitter taste of the booze, or maybe my heart felt heavy, I didn't know why my expression refused to loosen up.

"Even then…. Sir, still, this isn't right, you know? That was just wrong, sir. He's a young kid, only 23 years old, so his eyes shouldn't look like that."

I honestly thought that, at the very least, Hunter Seong Jin-Woo would show up to the meeting place with an expression filled with unfounded confidence, believing that he'd always survive no matter what, or with a look of a scared person searching for someone, anyone, to help stop him.

And I felt confident of persuading him regardless of where his mental state was in.

However, Seong Jin-Woo was different. He seemed to have completely acknowledged the predicament he was stuck in.

There was this thin smile on his face implying that, although he was shivering away in fear, he somehow barely managed to overcome it.

So, how could I push someone's back towards a corner, to the precipice of a cliff, when that person had barely managed to overcome his fear?

I just couldn't do that.

And also, I came to realise that I shouldn't bad-mouth my superior officers just because they failed to do something that I, too, had failed to do.

Chief didn't say anything while filling up the shot glass, but then he quietly asked me a question.

"Fella. Why did you join the Hunter's Association?"

"I…."

That moment when I began thinking about helping Hunters out for the first time – my head dropped a little and recalled the events of that fateful day.

"When I was young, I saw a certain news broadcast, sir. It was about a Hunter who ended up being trapped inside a Gate while trying to save his comrades from getting stuck like him."

I recalled seeing the grounds of a theme park, a place where people were supposed to smile and have a good time, now filled with Hunters soaked in blood from head to toe as they lay there helplessly while moaning in pain.

Back then, I became really curious.

– Those folks saved other people while bleeding heavily like that, but who is saving them now?

My parents couldn't answer my question, and that was when I made up mind. If no one could help them, then I shall be the one to do so.

I shall do everything in my power to make sure that Hunters don't get injured or die.

"But now, even I became the same as the rest, sir."

I failed to become that source of support, strength, to Hunter Seong Jin-Woo who was facing a deadly crisis in his life.

There was nothing I could do for him.

I scolded my uselessness with such thoughts. Meanwhile, Chief studied me for a moment or two before putting down his shot glass.

"What if you still have something you can do?"

"Pardon me?"

I raised my head up.

Chief reached into his bag and pulled out a file containing information on a high-ranking Awakened. He then placed it before me.

"You see, there are people who Awakened as a high rank but due to not being interested in monetary gains, they chose not to become Hunters."

"How about helping the Hunters affiliated with the Association by persuading these folks to join us?"

My mind snapped awake from that and I looked down at the file.

"Rank B Healer Hunter Yi Ju-Hui…."

An upper-rank Healer!

If someone like her joined the Association, then surely, she'd be able to save people from dying or suffering from heavy injuries. Even a weak Hunter should be able to fight to his heart's content without being worried about his safety.

For a moment there, Hunter Seong Jin-Woo's face I saw earlier brushed past my mind. My eyes were sparkling brightly, causing the Chief to gently chuckle and speak up.

"So, how about it? Are you interested?"

I stopped staring at the file and nodded my head energetically.

"Yes, sir. I am!!"

Chapter 244 Fin.

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Chapter 245

Side Story 2

2. Reunion (1)

Ash continued to fall from the sky like snowflakes.

Jin-Woo bade farewell to his Shadow Soldiers as their time to part drew near, and without a shred of hesitation, turned around to face the leader of the Rulers.

"I'm ready."

The 'Brightest Fragment of Brilliant Light' summoned out a stunningly beautiful chalice, its expression slightly sorrowful. Jin-Woo's eyes shone with interest when he saw that artefact.

'So, that's the Tool of God that can turn back time, the Chalice of Rebirth….'

Gulp.

Dry saliva slid down his throat all by itself right after he realised that the moment when everything was over and would begin anew had arrived. Jin-Woo's face was filled with tension. Seeing him like this, the Fragment of Brilliant Light asked him one more time.

[Truly… will you not regret this decision?]

It had spent aeons fighting against Sovereigns and knew better than anyone how heavy the burden a war of this magnitude imposed on one's soul was. Meaning, it understood full well the weight of that burden this Shadow Sovereign was about to bear all by himself.

The second Shadow Sovereign, Jin-Woo, nodded his head.

He won the first battle. The second battle should be that much easier. He had to ensure that would be the case.

He formed an expression half-filled with grim determination and confidence. The Brilliant Light also nodded its head.

This man's drive to save all those lost in this war – how could this angel not know his determination when it too raised a flag of rebellion against its master, the Absolute Being, all for the sake of countless subordinates that died during the course of this everlasting war?

[I pray that your courage will save your world one more time.]

The Fragment of Brilliant Light made a heartfelt prayer and flipped the Chalice of Rebirth around. When it did, light filling up the Chalice poured down onto the ground, gently and gradually soaking it.

The most blinding veil of light slowly began enveloping the whole world.

Everyone – injured soldiers waiting in the battlefields, their families learning of their fate through TV, those praying for the safety of their loved ones, those with pale complexions after hearing ominous news broadcasts, those dropping their heads lower in despair….

In their houses, inside their cars, inside hospitals, inside schools, inside their workplaces….

Everyone saw the blinding light gently permeating through their windows.

Eventually, the whole planet became awash with pure light.

And then, the light silently blanketing the whole world, quietly dissipated and disappeared without a trace, just like when it first appeared.

Morning.

Past the closed eyelids, the rays of morning sun signalling the start of yet another day could be felt. Jin-Woo kept his eyes closed for the time being and while lying on his back, stroked the familiar material of the bed sheet.

Although he wasn't fully awake yet, his perception that had far surpassed the boundaries of a human being could pick up on the unfolding situation of his immediate vicinity with ease.

'Jin-Ah is coming out of the bathroom after washing up, the smell of the boiling stew, sounds coming from the cutting board, and then, the air in my room with this familiar smell….'

This was his home.

He had returned back home.

Jin-Woo's heartbeat began quickening bit by bit from the realisation. He then heard his mom's voice through the closed door.

"Jin-Ah? Can you go and wake your brother up?"

That's right.

His little sister Jin-Ah really liked sleeping, as befitting a growing girl of her age, but oddly enough, she always woke up early in the morning. And almost always, Mom would ask her to go and wake her oppa up every day like this.

"Okay!"

After realising that the memories of the childhood he dreamed of reliving were now playing out so vividly in front of his eyes, a wide grin quickly floated up on Jin-Woo's face.

Clunk.

"Oppaaaa…"

Before his sister could fully open the door, he slowly pushed himself up from the bed.

"Uhh? When did you wake up?"

She stared at his already-awake figure with wide-open eyes, and Jin-Woo formed a deep smile as his reply. In front of his eyes stood Jin-Ah, who hadn't lost her friends to the monsters yet.

Jin-Woo stood up from the bed and walked past his sister to enter the living room.

"Son? You're up?"

Mom stopped preparing breakfast and looked behind her after hearing his footsteps. From today onwards, he'd never get to see the sight of her trying her hardest to escape from the clutches of the Eternal Sleep that no one could wake up from.

But, the most welcoming scene that he really wanted to see again was…

Jin-Woo heard the sounds of a newspaper page turning and quickly shifted his gaze towards the dining table. His father, waiting for breakfast to arrive by quietly reading the newspaper, felt his gaze and raised his head.

The moment their gazes met, Jin-Woo felt this rush of breathless emotion.

"Father…."

He muttered the word 'father' out unbeknownst even to himself.

Seong Il-Hwan formed a puzzled expression after hearing his son use a rather grown-up word when the boy always used the term 'Dad' up until now.

Did his boy wake up after experiencing a scary dream?

The young Jin-Woo now looked to be struggling to suppress his tears, so the alarmed Seong Il-Hwan quickly got up from his chair and approached his son.

"Son? What's the matter?"

The voice of his dad, now coming from right in front of Jin-Woo's nose. He could still vividly remember that feeling of his father scattering away like dust from his grasp, so this moment came across like a dream come true.

However, this was not a dream. No, it's THE reality that he needed to protect, no matter what. Tears of happiness briefly welled up in his eyes, but soon enough, they were replaced by the gritty determination, instead.

Both his mom and dad were studying him with worried expressions on their faces. Jin-Woo forcibly changed his own expression and formed a grin.

"….I must've had a nightmare."

Indeed.

His nightmare was over.

The nightmare was over, and his young sister, his healthy mother, and his father, who hadn't vanished, were all here.

He was given one last chance to make everything right. And he swore never to let this chance slip through his fingers. He'd rewrite the future with his own two hands.

His eyes gleamed brightly as his resolve firmed up even further.

It felt like only a couple of days ago when he told himself that, but…

….A week flew by already.

Jin-Woo failed to grasp the right timing to enter the gap between dimensions until now. He rested his chin on his hand and dazedly stared outside his classroom's window. Beru began talking to him from his shadow.

[Oh, my king….]

'Yeah, I know.'

Indeed, he knew.

He knew that the Sovereigns desiring after this land were getting ready to deploy a gigantic Gate just beyond the blue sky above his head.

However, these last few days had been like a holiday for him, someone who had ended a big fight not too long ago. For a little while longer…. Wouldn't it be fine for him to fully enjoy these peaceful times for a little bit longer? Especially as a reward for his hard work so far.

As he spent his time worrying about this and that, the much-welcomed sound rang around the classroom.

Ding-dong…. Ding-dong….

The bells signalling the end of school noisily resounded out from the speakers.

Kids all looked to be slowly wasting away until then, but renewed vitality suddenly seeped into their expressions. Going with the flow, Jin-Woo formed a bright expression as well.

Even if the inside was a young man aged twenty-four, no, twenty-five, his outer appearance was that of a child only fourteen years old or so.

The after-class goodbyes with the homeroom teacher came to a quick end in a heightened, noisy, and boisterous atmosphere. Soon, though, schoolboys sporting buzz cut hairstyles quickly crowded around Jin-Woo.

"Hey, Jin-Woo!"

"You're stopping by at the internet cafe today, right?"

Jin-Woo checked out the excited faces of the kids and grinned softly before nodding his head.

"Oww yeah!"

"Hey, hey! Jin-Woo's playing for our team today!"

"What? What're you on about?! He played for your team yesterday already."

"But, we also took in Jong-Shik too, you know. And he's the worst player here."

"Ah, ah, fine. We'll take Jong-Shik and Min-Pyo too, so Jin-Woo is on our team."

"Let's decide with rock-paper-scissors!"

"Deal!"

Around this time period in the classrooms of the nation's middle schools saw the boom in the RTS video game genre. Jin-Woo's stunning reflexes and perception were more than enough to show these kids a whole new world out there.

For the middle school boys, top skills in a video game meant that you were the most popular kid in school. Just about every kid out there competed hard to be in the same team as Jin-Woo.

The matches of rock-paper-scissors were supposed to be decided on the best out of three but soon morphed into best out of five.

Meanwhile, middle school girls, clearly not interested in the matters of video games, stared at the boys intensely competing in the warfare to steal Jin-Woo away with eyes reserved for looking at helpless idiots and left the classroom.

Also, right by the rear door of the classroom, there was this kid who kept stealing glances in the direction of the crowd while he belatedly packed his school bag.

He liked playing the video game like everyone else, but was no good in making friends. Such kids could only look on with envy at the rest of their classmates going around in groups like that.

Smirk.

Jin-Woo quietly smirked to himself.

He began noticing things that he wasn't conscious of before as a kid one by one. Was it because he was an adult now? Or, because of his perception that had exceeded the norms of humanity?

Even in this cramped space of the classroom, so, so many emotions swirled around and collided against one another to form a small world of its own.

In the meantime…

"Wow-!"

Kids who finally found themselves in Jin-Woo's team exclaimed out loudly without a shred of embarrassment.

Jin-Woo inwardly clicked his tongue.

'This is why girls are looking at you like that….'

The victors of the rock-paper-scissors battlefield left behind the dejected kids and hurriedly crowded around Jin-Woo once more.

"Alright, let's go, Jin-Woo!"

Before he did that, though, he pointed to the back of the classroom.

"Hey, I want to form a team with him."

"Uh?"

In the direction the boys turned their heads to, there was only that lone kid packing up his bag in silence. He flinched from surprise after realising that everyone was looking at him, his eyes growing larger in panic.

"Uh….? Me?"

Jin-Woo replied back.

"Yup, you."

At that moment, he found countless traces of agonising dilemma flit in and out of the boy's expression. He just smirked again and asked.

"What's the matter? You don't wanna?"

"N-no….."

The boy was now forming a shy but happy smile. Seeing that he was successful in his mission, Jin-Woo picked up his bag and spoke up.

"Okay, let's go."

The boy quickly picked up his bag and nodded his head.

"Y-yeah!"

Jin-Woo grinned brightly again.

For a little bit longer.

This feeling – just for a little bit longer.

'If these moments that I'm living my life aren't harming anyone, let me enjoy them at least for another day.

Let me stay for a bit longer….'

Jin-Woo's steps taking him outside the classroom alongside his friends were cheery and light, but at the same time, also incomparably heavy as well.

The sun leaning against the mountain behind the school was already dyeing the sky amber. Jin-Woo came to a stop for a moment there and looked up at the heavens above, prompting his friends to call out to him.

"Hey, Jin-Woo? What are you doing?"

"Our spots in the internet cafe will get taken over at this rate!"

'These guys, trying to hurry me and all….'

"Yeah, yeah, I'm coming."

Jin-Woo caught up to the rest of his friends walking a step ahead. They were noisily chatting about their famous victories soon to be written in history with voices full of anticipation.

Jin-Woo didn't really need to enter the conversations to sense their excitement and hear their throbbing heartbeats.

And so….

Under the skies dyeing in the colours of vivid copper, Jin-Woo walked on these streets with friends he met again after what felt like an eternity.

He walked with a wide smile still etched on his face.

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